Gervonta Davis to Possibly Face Abner Mares In January

By Boxing News - 11/08/2022 - Comments

By Vince Dwriter: WBA (Regular) lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) recently took to social media to make an announcement in regards to his next fight date. Davis posted the abbreviation “Jan,” and now everyone is in a frenzy trying to figure out who’s the mystery opponent.

Fight fans have been impatiently waiting all year long for one of the mega fights to be signed, sealed, and delivered, but unfortunately, none of them have been confirmed as of yet. Currently, the biggest fight in boxing is Errol Spence Jr versus Terence Crawford, but arguably the second fight considered to be in high popular demand is a clash between Davis and Garcia.

The rivalry between Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) and Gervonta Davis escalated in January 2021 when Garcia was a guest on Mike Tyson’s ‘Hotboxin’ podcast. Elie Seckbach of EsNews called Davis, and by way of video chat, Garcia and Davis had their first face-to-face interaction.
Since their war of words on the podcast, Davis and Garcia have spent the past year trading shots on social media.

Recently the two combatants transitioned from posting insults to articulating how they want to face each other inside the squared circle. Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia both acknowledge a match between them is something the fans want and deserve.

Unfortunately, the business of boxing has caused a major delay in regard to the match being made because of the clash of networks.

Garcia fights under Golden Boy Promotions, and Golden Boy has commitments to DAZN, while Davis has recently claimed he’s a free agent, but he still has ties to PBC and Showtime Boxing.

Despite the negotiation challenges, Davis’s recent tweet has served up a glimmer of hope in regards to a super fight between him and Ryan Garcia. Fight fans may want the post to be a glimmer of hope, but in all actuality, Davis’s fight date tweet is probably a pivot in another direction.

Speculation is brewing as it relates to the direction Davis and his team are pivoting toward, and the boxing community is starting to assume that the January fight date will feature a match between Gervonta Davis and former three-division champion Abner Mares. The two were initially scheduled to face each other in February 2019, but Mares was forced to withdraw due to injury.

At the time, reports indicated Mares’ withdrawal was due to an elbow injury, but it was later revealed that he withdrew because he suffered a detached retina. Mares spent the next three years as a boxing commentator for Showtime until he made his return to the ring in September 2022.

The 36-year-old Abner Mares made his return against Miguel Flores, and he came out looking sharp, but at the conclusion of 12-rounds, the bout was declared a majority draw. Now Abner Mares (31-3-2, 15 KOs) is on the verge of possibly stepping inside the squared circle with a man who would represent the biggest challenge of his career.

The boxing community has an appetite for major fights, and unfortunately, a clash between Gervonta Davis and Abner Mares wouldn’t satisfy their hunger. Nothing has been officially confirmed between the two, but a clue may have been left on social media.

In one of Abner Mares’ most recent IG posts, he stated, “It’s all about the momentum. Fight date coming soon.”