By Matt Lieberman: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’s chin will need to withstand the enormous left-hand power of Ryan Garcia for him to win their fight on April 22nd because he’s not going to get through the entire twelve-round contest without eating numerous shots that land on the button.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Tank’s defense is on the level of Shakur Stevenson, and even if it were, he’d still need to trust in his chin to hold up in the early rounds against Ryan.
The 28-year-old Gervonta (28-0, 26 KOs) is an excellent fighter without question, but it’s unclear if his punch resistance is any better than Ryan’s past opponents Javier Fortuna, Franciso Fonseca, Romero Duno, and Jose Lopez.
Up until now, the strongest punchers that Tank has fought during his career have come from this list:
- Rolly Romero
- Isaac Cruz
- Hector Garcia
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
- Hugo Ruiz
- Jesus Cuellar
None of those guys are enormous punchers. The closest one to having big power is Rolly Romero, a guy viewed as a weight bully, a fighter that should have been fighting at 140 or 147.
Will Davis vs. Garcia end abruptly?
“I expect the fight to end abruptly. I expect [Ryan] Garcia to get ahead early on with his boxing ability, trying to keep it long outside, using his strategy, and then I expect him to get a little overly aggressive and then Tank catching him with either an uppercut or straight left hand and turn his lights off,” said Tim Bradley to Max Kellerman on Boxing, predicting a victory for Gervonta Davis over Ryan Garcia.
“This fight is happening for one reason, and that’s because Ryan Garcia wouldn’t shut up,” said Mark Kriegel. “He’s basically prosecuting this fight. He’s not just made it impossible for Gervonta to ignore him.
“He sees something in Gervonta. I don’t know if that’s enough. What Ryan has is he needs just a little bit of space to turn over that left hook, and I guess he thinks he can use it. I don’t think Gervonta is a good enough fighter that he can play against one punch. You’re not going to hit him with that. You’re going to have to send it with a right hand,” said Kriegel.
“I agree with that analysis. I think Gervonta is favored for a reason. I think he should be favored,” said Max Kellerman. “Ryan Garcia has absolutely elite, it doesn’t get higher than his level of hand speed and punching power, with the left hook especially.
“He’s not as experienced against world-class opposition as a pro than Tank Davis. I like Tank’s feet a lot better than I like Ryan’s feet. You said he prosecuted this fight, right? He didn’t have to. What I like about what Ryan Garcia has done here is he has nine million Instagram followers.
“He was constantly criticized for his level of opposition, his fight schedule, and he sought out the guy that he thought he could make the biggest fight with. He kept going after him until he apparently until it got made,” said Kellerman.
Ryan Garcia sees something he can exploit
“He also sees something that he can exploit or thinks he can exploit. Whether it exists or not, I don’t know, but he sees something,” said Kriegel.
“A lot of guys see things, but when they get in the ring,” said Bradley.
“What about stylistically?” said Kellerman. “Mark brings it up. Usually, the longer-armed fighter, if he’s also a puncher, the shorter guy has to get inside, and that’s the danger right on your way in?”
“Not necessarily,” said Bradley. “The shorter guy doesn’t always have to get inside. The shorter guy can actually fight off the back foot and allow the taller fighter to make mistakes and then make him pay.”
“Is that what you see Tank doing?” said Kellerman.
“I can see him doing that early on,” said Bradley. “Tank doesn’t mind giving up rounds early. He doesn’t mind that. He’ll let you get comfortable and get that false sense of security, and then he’ll lower the boom on you.”
Will Tank’s chin hold up?
“It also seems to me that Tank trusts his chin and power enough that he gives up some defense as a way of landing his own offense, knowing that he’s not so worried about it, and so the other guy gets brave and makes a mistake and then Tank closes the show.
“I brought up Rolly Romero earlier. What happened against Romero, right? That’s not the only guy,” said Kellerman.
“Leo Santa Cruz, too,” said Kriegel. “This guy [Ryan Garcia] is a lot bigger than Leo Santa Cruz.”
“And a much bigger puncher than Santa Cruz at the weight and a much quicker with the left hook than anything Rolly is going to be throwing at you,” said Kellerman about Ryan Garcia being bigger, stronger, and faster than anyone Tank Davis has fought before.