By Adam Baskin: Tim Bradley says Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is openly “cheating” with him gaming the system, using his A-side to weasel a rehydration clause & 136-lb catchweight to gain an advantage over Ryan Garcia in their fight on April 22nd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Bradley sees that as a really “soft” on Tank Davis’ part to use both a rehydration clause and a 136-lb catchweight to ensure that Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) is physically weakened enough to guarantee that he wins the fight against him.
Tank Davis “cheating” against Ryan Garcia
“He doesn’t have a whole lot of problems with guys that have size. Tank also likes guys that come out fast. He doesn’t mind that. He’ll play defense for a little while; he’ll play possum,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype about Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis having no issues with taller fighters. “He’ll allow you to get comfortable.
“That is so soft. I’m sorry,” said Bradley when asked about the rehydration clause that Tank Davis insisted on for the Ryan Garcia fight. “If you’re going to do it, do it if you’re going to party, party. If you’re going to buy your kids some shoes, buy your kids some shoes.
“This dude [Tank], first of all, has him coming down to 136, and then he put in a rehydration clause? Man, if that ain’t cheating at its best, and if that isn’t trying to have the advantage, bro, then I don’t know what is. That’s soft. The crazy thing is there’s going to be an asterisk right up there.
“If he wins this fight by knockout or even wins it in general, I’m going to be like, ‘Ah.’ I mean, come on, bro.
“If Garcia can be mature in the fight, and not rush and be patient and let the fight develop in its own rhythm, then he can hold his own, and he won’t get caught with a big shot,” Bradley continued about Ryan Garcia.
How Ryan Garcia can win against Tank?
“If he’s trying to force things, force this and force that like I see him doing in all of his fights, trying to force things all the time, running red lights, trying to force this and trying to force that, then he’s going to get stopped and knocked the hell out,” Bradley said.
“So controlling his emotions is key. Keeping his distance on the outside instead of fighting in the center of the ring if he’s going to win this fight. He’s not going to win the dog fight, and he’s not going to win the boxing match either,” Bradley said of Ryan.
“This is what he needs to do. You know you can box and stay in the center of the ring and draw that line and say, ‘I’m not going to back up. I’m going to be right here for you to try and hit me. I’m going to step back when I need to. I don’t necessarily need to go look for you.
“‘I need you to do a little bit of work for me until I can work. And then, when you’re not working, I’ll use my jab, keep my distance out at range, and then I’ll win the fight that way in those moments. I’ll win the fight just by control.’
“We know that Tank doesn’t have the best defense in the world. He can be hit, and we know he can be outboxed, but it doesn’t require you to constantly move your feet. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
“He doesn’t have to move his feet around. Tank is the one that is going to have to move his feet around. He’s the one that is going to have to try and find different angles. He’s the smaller guy. If Garcia can do all that and make it somewhat boring, he has the chance of winning this fight on points,” said Bradley.
Gervonta hard to bet against
“I just feel it’s hard not to bet on Tank. People will say,’ You said you hope he gets knocked out.’ I still do,” said Bradley. “That was all because of personal reasons about that, about the women, mistreating women. But as far as the game itself, as far as boxing, it’s hard not to bet on Tank because he can do so much more than Ryan Garcia at this point.
“He has so much seasoning, unlike the younger Ryan. Barrios was doing well until he wasn’t, and Tank can come look for you and hunt you down. Tank can move; he moves a lot better and cuts off the ring a lot better than Ryan.
“There’s not just one side to Tank. He can do multiple things. So I would favor him in the fight. Like I said, I hope Garcia knocks him the hell out, and I still feel that way. I highly doubt it, but anything is possible.
“At this point, Garcia isn’t [a complete fighter]. He’s a talented fighter, extremely talented. He’s definitely athletically gifted, but as the saying goes, ‘Boy, you’re still wet behind the ears.’
“I respect him for taking the challenge, but I feel he’s not at his absolute prime yet where Tank is in his absolute prime and has shown us that even being hurt, he can dig deep.
“Even fighting against big tall guys that are winning on points. You can go back to when he was fighting Rolly, it was the same thing. Bouncing back when he was behind and catching him with that kill shot.
“Tank has that patience. He can do that. Tank has that ring knowledge. You gain that over time. A guy like Garcia doesn’t have that yet. He hasn’t developed that yet. Know when to step on the gas and when not to. Know when to rest.
“Know when to press forward and know when to box. He doesn’t have that, and he can’t fight inside, either. He doesn’t know how to fight inside either,” Bradley said about Ryan Garcia. “He still has a lot to learn; whereas Tank can fight on the inside, he can box, he has good power, he can be a counterpunch.
“There’s a lot to Tank. I’m going to say Tank by knockout [over Ryan] late. I see him winning by knockout.
“Size, speed, power, but some guys like the bigger targets,” said Bradley about Ryan’s size might not help him against Gervonta, who likes to fight bigger fighters. “Tank is that guy. Sometimes when you have that size, sometimes it can come to your disadvantage,” said Bradley.
