By Matt Lieberman: Roy Jones Jr says Ryan Garcia made a crucial mistake by stalking the boxer/puncher Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis last Saturday night, and he paid for it by getting knocked out.
Roy states that he saw Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) training ahead of the fight and felt that he would be asking for trouble if he pressured Gervonta (29-0, 27 KOs) because he lacked a “granite” chin to stalk him around the ring.
Ryan, for whatever reason, changed his normal fighting style for this fight, and Jones wonders if it was his idea or his trainer Joe Goosen’s.
If it was Goosen’s brilliant idea for Ryan to charge into the teeth of Tank Davis’ offense, that’s troubling because, with the many years of experience he has in the sport, he should have known better.
You got a fighter with a weak chin in Ryan Garcia, with zero experience, who was almost knocked out by the light hitting Luke Campbell two years ago, and you’re going to tell him to go straight at Tank Davis. That’s crazy.
“I saw him [Ryan Garcia] in training one day, and I said, ‘If you stalk Tank and you’re not known for having a granite chin, why would you stalk a puncher? Tank is a boxer/puncher. His punching is just a tad bit better than his boxing, but his boxing ain’t bad either,'” said Roy Jones Jr on his official channel.
“So he’s a boxer-puncher, and it’s really negotiable which one he’s better at right now,” Jones continued about Tank Davis. “So, with that being said, why would you stalk a guy that you know can punch like a bulldog?
“If you stalk him, he’s going to catch you instead of you catching him, and it’ll probably be within six to nine rounds; he’s going to get you out because you’re fighting the wrong fight. He fought the wrong fight, and that’s what happened,” Roy Jr said about Ryan Garcia.
“What’s next for Ryan? I’m not really sure. He’ll probably go back up to 140 and see how he feels. It’s going to be a tough thing for him. He’s going to have to go to school and study some guys that knew how to negate boxing.
“For Ryan to go out and stalk Tank, means that Ryan isn’t being true to who he is, or maybe someone gave him the wrong game plan. It’s going to be tough for him to do everything because now everybody will go out and try to get to his chin,” said Roy.
