By Allan Fox: Ryan Garcia and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis have agreed to a deal framework to meet in January at a catchweight of 136 lbs in Las Vegas. However, network issues are holding up the fight, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
Tank will come up one pound from 135 lbs, while Ryan will come down from 140 to meet at the catchweight of 136.
Mayweather Promotions, who promotes the WBA secondary lightweight champion Tank Davis (27-0, 25 KOs), wants the fight to be shown on Showtime pay-per-view, while on Ryan Garcia’s side, DAZN wants the fight to be shown as well on their streaming service.
It’s understandable why DAZN would want to be a part of it, as the fight does nothing for them if they allow Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) to fight on Showtime PPV without their involvement.
The network issues could sink the fight if Showtime and DAZN cannot agree. If it were a bigger match-up, similar to the 2015 clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao, it likely wouldn’t be a big deal for the two networks to share the fight because there would be enough money to go around to keep both happy.
“Representatives for Ryan Garcia and Gervonta “Tank” Davis have agreed to the framework of a deal for a 136-pound catchweight fight,” said Chris Mannix at Sports Illustrated.
“While most of the key contractual issues have been resolved, who will broadcast the fight remains a significant obstacle. Mayweather Promotions, which represents Davis along with Al Haymon, has insisted that Showtime be the exclusive pay-per-view distributor in the U.S.
“DAZN has a contract with Garcia and is unwilling to sign off unless the streaming service is involved in the U.S. broadcast. The targeted fight date is January in Las Vegas,” said Mannix.
Ryan hasn’t fought anyone remotely talented during his six-year professional career, and the same applies to Tank Davis.
They’ve both been arguably well protected by their promoters, who have matched them against many old guys and middle-of-the-road contenders rather than risking their unbeaten records against talented opposition.
The downfall of that kind of soft match-making is that it’s prevented Ryan & Tank from developing into the stars that they could be. This is obviously the new way that promoters match fighters.
Many of them look at the sport from a business angle and build fluff records for their fighters to fool the public into thinking they’re better than they actually are.