Bernard Hopkins says Ryan Garcia was already injured to the body before fight

By Boxing News - 04/27/2023 - Comments

By Craig Daly: Bernard Hopkins says Ryan Garcia’s loss to Gervonta Davis wasn’t the result of the 10-lb rehydration clause that the PBC-managed fighter had in the contract for their fight last Saturday night.

Hopkins says the body shot that Tank Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) dropped Ryan (23-1,19 KOs) with in round seven hit him in an area that was “already bruised & breached.

In other words, the 24-year-old Ryan came into the fight with an injury to his midsection, and Tank Davis took advantage of that by landing on the spot. Ryan’s father Henry Garcia hinted after the fight that he had a physical problem.

Also, Ryan’s sparring partner apologized for hurting him in the body during training. As such, it’s admirable that Ryan Garcia went through with the fight with Gervonta while dealing with an injury to his midsection rather than having the contest postponed, which is probably what he should have done.

You hate to second guess what Ryan should have done, but the fight could have had a different outcome if he’d been 100% healthy and strictly boxed Gervonta for 12 rounds, using his height & reach to win a decision.

“I don’t think it affected him [Ryan Garcia] to the point where he couldn’t perform the way he did,” said Bernard Hopkins to the DAZN Boxing Show on whether Ryan Garcia’s seventh round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis was a result of the 10-lb rehydration clause in the contract for their fight last Saturday night.

“I don’t think it affected him where he looked like a skeleton on the scales; I thought Ryan looked great; his skin still had moisture when I watched him.

“I just think he got caught with a shot that he didn’t see on the side of the liver or rib that was already bruised and breached.

“The downfall was Ryan didn’t have an answer for the pressure from Tank before the knockout. Ryan was paralyzed,” Bernard about Kingry’s knockdown in the seventh. “His mind wanted to get up. His ego wanted to get up.

“When people say he could have gotten up. They’ve never been hit in the stomach, let alone in the liver or the ribs. Oscar [De La Hoya] can tell you that you’d rather get hit in the face than anywhere in the stomach or kidneys. A body shot? You ain’t shaking that off,” said Hopkins.

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