By Barry Holbrook: Ryan Garcia is warning Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis not to duck him, as his legacy in boxing will be forever tainted. The unbeaten ‘King’ Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) is putting intense pressure on Tank Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) to defend his WBA World lightweight title against him in his next fight in May or September.
‘Kingry’ Garcia may have scared away the popular Tank Davis and or his promoters at Mayweather Promotions with his scary-looking seventh-round knockout victory over Luke Campbell last Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Ryan, 22, put Tank Davis in the spotlight after the fight, telling the boxing fans at ringside and those watching it live on DAZN that he wants to face him next. During the Garcia – Campbell fight, Tank posted a couple of comments, which he’s since deleted.
It’s unclear if Davis wants to make sure that he’s not giving boxing fans hope that he’ll be facing Ryan. That would explain the deleted social media posts, and his decision not to react to King Ryan.
Are Mayweather Promotions telling Tank to let the fight marinate?
It would be a classic move by Gervonta’s promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. He had great success in his career by milking his rivalry with Manny Pacquiao for six years.
It was a risky move by Floyd, but it worked well with him making massive money. If Tank chooses to let the Ryan Garcia fight marinate for years, it could backfire with one or both fighters losing.
Ryan Garcia predicting 2nd round knockout of Tank
“If you do not take this next fight from me, you will not be remembered. Your legacy will forever be tainted if you do not accept this fight,” said Ryan Garcia to TMZ Sports in letting Tank Davis know what he stands to lose by not facing him.
“It’s the most important fight to boxing right now. I don’t have time for celebrations. I’m on one mission. I’m on a mission to knock out Gervonta Davis in 2 rounds. This man will go down. 2 rounds — that’s a promise!”
“This is the fight. I need to fight Gervonta. That’s it! We need to get this on. I’m going for it! This is it.
“The world wants to see this fight, this fight is huge. It’s more than the money, this is time to bring boxing back, to bring it to where it was. This is the fight,” said Ryan Garcia.
That’s a bold prediction by Ryan with his second-round knockout projection for a fight against Tank Davis, but he could be right. With Ryan’s power, he’s capable of knocking out anyone in the 135-lb division with a single shot.
A fight between Tank and Ryan will be huge on pay-per-view when it does happen, as long as both are still at the top.
Tank has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, and Ryan 7.9 million followers. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. Mayweather, DAZN, and Golden Boy would be pushing the fight with their millions of followers.