Ryan Garcia message to Tank Davis: “Cmon Gervonta, come get this a** whooping”

By Boxing News - 07/18/2022 - Comments

By Sam Volz: Ryan Garcia took to social media on Sunday, sending a message to Gervonta ‘Tank’  Davis, encouraging him to “come get this a** whooping” in December.

Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) feels he’s ready to take on former three-division world champion Tank Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) after his sixth-round KO of #11 WBC fringe lightweight contender Javier Fortuna last Saturday night.

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Here’s the catch: Tank Davis must come up to 140 for the fight because the 5’10” Kingry Garcia says he will never return to the 135-lb division again.

The 5’5″ Tank is small even for a lightweight, and he didn’t look good when he moved up to 140 last year in June 2021 to dethrone WBA light-welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

The move up in weight made Gervonta sluggish, and he was struggling through the first seven rounds before receiving a pep talk from his promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr going into the eighth round.

“I won’t just beat Tank; I will make it look like there was no reason for him to be in the ring with me. Easy, Easy Lemon Squeezy,” said Ryan Garcia.

If you’re Golden Boy Promotions, it would be better to have Ryan return to the 135-lb division and get more experience before making the fight with Tank Davis because he’s not ready.

With the way Ryan looked against Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs) last weekend; he needs to work on defense with his head movement and should widen his stance so that he’s not standing upright.

Ryan likely chooses not to use a wider stance because he has pencil legs and requires leg strength to fight in a spread stance. But Thomas ‘Hitman’ Hearns had thin legs, and he could use a wide stance effectively and had a great career. If Hearns could do it, Ryan should as well.

Ryan should get a more solid win under his belt against these fighters before he comes knocking on Tank Davis’ door:

  • Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz
  • Jeremiah Nakathilia
  • Michel Rivera
  • Isaac Cruz

“He delivered. I had him losing the first round; I did,” said Shawn Porter on his Porter Way podcast, talking about Ryan Garcia’s win over Javier Fortuna.

“I would put Ryan up there, but not on the level of Tank, Devin Haney, Lomachenko,” said Hasim Rahman Jr. “I wouldn’t put him in that category yet. He definitely showed promise, but no, I don’t think he’ll ever be able to beat Tank.

“I’ve seen Tank knockout light heavyweights in the gym. That’s in the gym, but I’ve seen him dominate guys, punish middleweights 16, 14, whatever the case may be.

“He’s [Tank Davis] hitting them with bigger gloves on, but he’s hurting really big guys, and I don’t think Ryan would be able to overcome the amount of experience. Tank has an underrated amount of experience.

“I think Tank adapts to Ryan’s speed, which may win him the first three, maybe the first four rounds. But I think Tank eventually catches up to Ryan, and it’s most likely goodnight.

“They mentioned Regis [Prograis during the DAZN broadcast last Saturday], and I’m like, ‘Really?'” said Carson Merk. “I wouldn’t take that fight if I was Ryan Garcia in a million years.

“Regis is a big 140. A p***** off Regis Prograis, that’s not a good combination. When they mentioned that I was like, ‘Don’t you want to get him [Ryan] in the division a little bit at first?’ Jojo [Diaz]? How many weight classes does he have to go up?

“Ryan said yesterday, ‘I’m not going there [135] for anything.’ Jojo Diaz was a name that they kept mentioning. Really? If you want him [Ryan] to grow into 140, hey, go and fight this former featherweight? What kind of sense does that make?” said Merk.

“Jojo and Tank are on two different levels. Jojo is NOT going to get him ready for Tank,” said Rahman Jr about his view that Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz isn’t the right opponent to prepare Ryan Garcia properly for a Tank Davis fight.