By Brian Webber: Ryan Garcia weighed in at 144.9 lbs, and Gervonta Davis came in at 144.1 lbs for their fight day 10-lb rehydration clause today at 3:00 p.m. ET.
As a result, neither fighter will need to pay a hefty weight fine for coming in over the 146-lb contractually bound max weight limit for their fight tonight on DAZN & Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Now both fighters can rehydrate as much as they want before their fight tonight without dealing with any more weight stipulation games. Thankfully, this sad episode is over because it’s been a black eye for the sport, showing the abuses done by A-side fighters. This is an example of how far boxing still needs to go.
The 10-lb rehydration clause came from Tank Davis’ side, as they wanted to increase the chances of their fighter winning tonight against Ryan.
Sadly, it’s the first real test for Tank Davis in his nine-year professional career because he’s been carefully matched by his former promoters at Mayweather Promotions.
At the weight check @Gervontaa well under the 146 max. #DavisGarcia #boxing pic.twitter.com/tUdWZWmpim
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) April 22, 2023
At weight check @RyanGarcia makes 146 max with ease. #DavisGarcia #boxing pic.twitter.com/SkayItOtKP
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) April 22, 2023
It wasn’t just the weight stipulations Ryan Garcia had to deal with in preparing for tonight’s fight. He also had a spy in his game, reporting what he was doing back to Tank Davis’ team. That’s another black eye for the sport.
How does Tank Davis expect to be the face of boxing if he uses spies and weight stipulations to assist him in winning his fights? If Tank can’t win without help, what kind of fighter is he? It looks cheap and petty on his part to resort to these things to help him win a fight.
Even if he does win tonight, he will never receive the credit he otherwise would have if he didn’t see these tactics to get the W.
“I don’t have any reason to misrepresent something. I know everything he’s been doing,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe to Fighthype about Ryan Garcia, confirming that they’ve had a spy in his training camp for the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fight.
“You got to tighten you game up, bro,” Ellerbe continued about Ryan. “We’re from two different worlds from over here, and it’s like this. It’s by any means necessary over here. All hands on deck. You got to tighten your game up.
“We know what’s going on. You can’t do that over here because everything is covered,” said Leonard.