By Adam Baskin: Ryan Garcia could be fighting WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis next if PBC & Showtime, the promoter/network of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis choose not to yield on the rematch clause dispute that is currently holding up the fight from being made for April 15th.
According to Mike Coppinger, Golden Boy Promotions has already reached out to Team Regis Prograis’ management to put together a fight between him and Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) if PBC/Showtime refuses to give on the rematch clause point.
Golden Boy feels strongly enough about this issue for them to be willing to scrap the fight in favor of a match against the highly respected Prograis, who is arguably a far better fighter than Tank Davis anyway and would likely trounce the smallish 5’5″ former Mayweather Promotions fighter if he dared challenge him for his belt at 140.
Is PBC willing to wreck Tank-Ryan fight?
Ryan wants to fight the best, and he would be making a huge upgrade in talent if he went from fighting the arguably pampered, spoiled fighter Tank Davis in favor of the better talent, Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs).
“I do know that Golden Boy has already reached out to Regis Prograis’ team for a fight at 140 pounds for Prograis’ [WBC light welterweight] title,” said Mike Coppinger to The Volume Sports about Ryan Garcia potentially facing Regis Prograis if the negotiations with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fall apart.
The issue holding up the Gervonta-Ryan fight from getting made is that PBC/Showtime wants to be in charge of the rematch clause should Gervonta lose to the 24-year-old Ryan Garcia on April 15th.
Not surprisingly, Golden Boy Promotions doesn’t see that as being fair because if their fighter Ryan wins, it makes perfect sense that they & DAZN should be the ones that put on the rematch rather than having to bend to the will of the loser a second time.
The fact that PBC/Showtime are willing to risk the Ryan-Gervonta fight not happing over the rematch clause suggests that they don’t view Ryan as being important enough to negotiate with on event terms.
Prograis better talent than Tank Davis
In that case, the logical thing for Ryan & Golden Boy Promotions to do is to move on and leave Gervonta fighting the likes of Rolly Romero, Isaac Cruz, Hector Luis Garcia, Leo Santa Cruz, and the other weak, obscure fighters he’s been feasting on his entire career.
Regis Prograis might not be as popular as Tank Davis, but he’s a far better fighter and would crush him if the two were to fight.
As we’ve seen in Tank Davis’ recent fights against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, Hector Luis Garcia, and Eric Cruz, he’s a badly flawed fighter with limited skills who is totally dependent on his power to bail him out in fights he’s losing.
https://youtu.be/VYlRA46xgRU?t=344