Ryan Garcia Confronts Gervonta Davis About Trying To Weight Drain Him

By Boxing News - 03/10/2023 - Comments

By Vince D’Writer: After what appeared to be a lengthy negotiation, a deal was agreed upon, and fight fans are on the verge of receiving one of the most anticipated matchups in the sport of boxing, as WBA (regular) lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) will face Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) on Saturday, April 22nd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both men have called each other out on multiple occasions, and both boxers have also participated in a war of words via social media. Now we are officially weeks away from witnessing Davis and Garcia finally stepping inside the ring to settle their differences.

A short time ago, fight fans were frustrated by the lengthy negotiation phase, and they started assuming the Davis vs. Garcia clash wasn’t going to happen. Then on January 17th, Oscar De La Hoya and Ryan Garcia delivered some good news, as they posted a photo of them standing side by side while holding the Davis vs. Garcia fight contract.

Fight fans were excited, but the excitement diminished as weeks went by without confirmation of the actual signing of the contract. Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t specific, but he provided updates as it relates to the negotiations of certain terms that were included in the contract.

One known term that became public news was the rematch clause. The rematch clause was identified as the reason the fight was being delayed. Both parties were able to solve the rematch issue when they agreed that Gervonta Davis is the only one that could activate the rematch clause.

Finally, on February 24th, confirmation was given, as both boxers announced that the fight was officially on. Recently the two fighters have held press conferences in New York and Los Angeles, and during both press conferences, the boxers participated in intense verbal sparring.

Ryan Garcia used the press conference platform in New York to touch on a talking point that could have been one of the terms that held up the negotiations. When the negotiations began, it was revealed that the fight was being contested at a catchweight of 136 pounds, but the other component that focuses on the weight of the fighters wasn’t identified at that particular time.

Back in July 2022, Ryan Garcia made a successful debut at 140, as he knocked out Javier Fortuna in the sixth round. Immediately after his knockout victory, Garcia used his post-fight interview time to once again call out Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

“I’m not going back to 135, but I will fight Tank next. If Tank wants it at 140… hey, I’m going to record all the negotiations, so you guys don’t make no headlines saying I’m ducking. If he wants it, let’s get it.”
Gervonta Davis is a true 135-pounder, but he moved up to 140 back in June 2021 and posted an eleventh-round TKO victory over Mario Barrios. However, he declined Garcia’s offer to fight at 140 and gave Garcia the counteroffer to fight at 136.

In addition to fighting at a catchweight, Garcia also agreed to a rehydration clause that is included in the contract. The rehydration clause states that Garcia cannot weigh more than 146 pounds on fight night. While speaking at the New York press conference, Garcia shared his thoughts on the stipulation.

“He likes to fight people with no power, so he’s trying to weight drain me… There’s a rehydration clause; I can’t gain no more than ten pounds.”

Garcia doubled down on his claim that Davis is attempting to weight drain him, when they were face to face at the Los Angeles press conference. While speaking at the podium, Garcia talked about how Davis was losing to Barrios on the scorecards prior to Davis scoring the eleventh-round stoppage.

The Barrios comments drew a reaction from Davis as Davis stood up and placed his left fist on Garcia’s jaw. Despite having his opponent’s fist on his jaw, Garcia calmly responded.

“You see, I’m not even worried about it. I’m not even worried about it. So… so, why did you weight drain me? So why did you weight drain me? Why don’t you fight at 140?”

As the promotion of the mega-fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia continues, more information is being revealed in regard to the sacrifices Garcia made in order to make this fight happen. Garcia enters the bout as the underdog and the man who made the most sacrifices, but he still remains confident in his ability to pull off the upset.

“I’m going to beat him, I’m going to knock him out, and that’s it,” Garcia stated at the Los Angeles press conference.

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