By Sean Jones: Ryan Garcia sent a message to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis tonight on social media, addressing him with the label “Coward” and suggesting they should eliminate the rematch clause in their contract so they end the impasse to get the fight made for April 15th.
Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) just wants to get the fight on, and like many, he feels the rematch clause is unimportant. It would only come into play if Tank Davis were to lose.
If he and his promoters/network aren’t happy with starting negotiations fresh after his loss, they can always move on and fight someone else, be it Eric Cruz, Rolly Romero, are whoever they feel comfortable fighting.
Ryan Garcia wants Tank to scrap rematch clause
“Stop running, Tank. Stop hiding from me,” said Ryan Garcia on social media. “Stop hiding behind Al Haymon. No rematch clause. Winner takes all, coward.”
“We are in a precious position when it comes to Ryan Garci a and Gervonta Davis,” said Chris Mannix to The Volume. “For weeks, we were led to believe that this fight was signed, sealed, delivered. The second fight is now up for debate and that’s what’s holding up the possibility of the first fight.
Too eazy ⚡️🫣 pic.twitter.com/lZz9IKHwIb
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) February 9, 2023
“This is over the rematch clause, and this was something that Golden Boy was led to believe in their conversations with PBC executives that they and Dazn would be in the lead for a rematch between Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia, which it could only be triggered by Tank Davis. Ryan Garcia does not have a rematch clause for this fight.
“When the contracts came back, the contracts said, Showtime/PBC were in control of the rematch. Is this basically were we stand right now where this rematch could potentially torpedo on April 15th?” said Mannix.
“This is a major sticking point, and I understand Oscar De La Hoya’s position here,” said Mike Coppinger. “He says, like you say, this only comes into play if Ryan Garcia wins, and mind you, Ryan Garcia is the underdog.
“No one I’ve spoken to are giving him much of a chance. I’m giving him a big chance. So this only comes into play if Gervonta wins. If Ryan scores the upset, why shouldn’t his team and his network be in the lead? That’s pretty standard practice in boxing.”
Tank-Ryan could be scapped
“The only time you don’t see that happen are during instances where there is a true A-side, and a longshot underdog like Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz comes to mind,” said Coppinger. “Even Joshua-Usyk, but that was a little different. Usyk didn’t have a major promoter behind him.
“Matchroom was promoting, even though they weren’t his name promoter. It wasn’t a big deal. Whereas here, you have two big rival promoters and rival networks. It’s only fair to me,” said Coppinger.
“It shocks me that we’re talking about this as potentially a reason this fight gets scrapped because I don’t really get it from the Gervonta, PBC side,” said Mannix. “It’s not like they would have to take the fight against Ryan Garcia.
“They could lose to Ryan Garcia and say, ‘Screw it, we’re done. Maybe Ryan Garcia is too big. I’m going to fight guys at 130, 135.’ There’s no obligation on their part to take this rematch.
“Look, you hear from certain people, Golden Boy, of course, feels like this is Al Haymon trying to torpedo the rematch. People in the business, a lot of the people feel the same way about all this.”
Is PBC trying to exert control?
“I’m not going to put myself in Al Haymon’s mind when it comes to this, but it does feel like PBC is trying to exert all the control in this situation,” said Mannix. “You made the point, Ryan Garcia is not some B-side. Ryan Garcia is a legit star in his own right.
“If you look at the list of the top five biggest stars in boxing, top five young stars, Gervonta Davis is right there up at the top, and Ryan Garcia is right there below him. So, I’m trying to understand how this gets resolved. This is the kind of thing, Mike. This is the kind of thing that people understand.
“They didn’t understand the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence stuff because that was like percentages and investment firms. Everyone kind of had their eyes glazed over when those two guys were talking about their issue. This is pretty cut and dry. Golden Boy agreed to everything when it when it came to the first fight, and they’re just asking for some rights for the second fight.
“If they don’t get it, I get the sense that they’re pretty dug in at this point. They’re not going to make this fight unless they have the rights to the rematch,” said Mannix.
Both sides dug in
“I get the sense that the other side is just as dug in,” said Coppinger about PBC. “What I don’t understand is that if this is that big of a deal, why not eliminate the rematch clause? ‘We’re confident our guy is going to win. He’s the favorite.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlRA46xgRU
“I’ve seen people on Twitter saying, ‘Gervonta Davis is scared.’ He’s ducking no one. I don’t think any fighter is scared. This is Gervonta Davis. This is PBC and Showtime trying to exert their control and their influence here, in my opinion.
“They’re trying to control everything. It has nothing to do with the fighter, but I don’t understand why don’t they cut the promoters and networks out, whoever they may be, whether it’s PBC, Top Rank, or Matchroom. Why can’t Gervonta Davis say, ‘I’m not letting this hold up the fight.'”
“This comes down to the fighters. Why is Gervonta Davis worried about the rematch?” said Mannix. “‘I think I’m going to dominate Ryan Garcia.’ Why are we going to lose a ten million+ payday over a fight that might never happen? That doesn’t make any sense to me.
“But given that, these two sides are planning for a future where this fight doesn’t happen. They’re mapping things out here,” said Mannix.