By Adam Baskin: Ryan Garcia says he’s noticed that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is “emotional,” easily upset, and cries on the Internet, showing his vulnerability.
Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) feels that Tank Davis doesn’t understand himself, which is why everything upsets him. He’s emotionally fragile and can be picked apart mentally.
With that said, Ryan feels that Gervonta (28-0, 26 KOs) won’t let the emotional stuff affect his performance, but at the same time, it could leave him open to falling into traps he sets for their fight.
During their face-offs, Ryan says he saw how easily affected he was to words, and he was able to toy with his emotions at will.
Ryan Garcia vs. Gervonta Davis will take place on April 22 on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Gervonta crying on the Internet
“I saw an emotional guy that hasn’t had any self-reflection and just reacts to everything,” said Ryan Garcia to the Complex when asked what he saw in Gervonta Davis when he stood for the face-off with him during their recent press conferences.
“I don’t think that’ll play a part in the fight. He knows how to fight; that’s what he does know,” Ryan continued about Gervonta. “I don’t think he understands himself quite well because everything I was saying, it was p***ging him off.
“I’m like, ‘Okay, I can see who he is as a person,’ and he’s going to need to control that about himself because he could run into traps. I’m like, Okay, I’m gauging him for what type of person he is. He gets offended really easily, even when people don’t go for him.
“He’s crying on the Internet. Bro, people don’t go for me all the time. That’s life. Get real with yourself real quick. Not everybody is going to pat you on the back, like, ‘You got this. You’re going to beat him easily.’ If you need that to feel good? That’s what I discovered about him.
“Will that play a part? I’m not relying on that. Skills pay the bills. Not at all because you can’t inspire people if everybody thinks you’re going to win,” said Ryan when asked if it bothers him that Canelo Alvarez is picking Tank Davis to beat him. “So this is my moment to inspire.
“If everybody thinks you’re going to do it, what’s the point? There’s no inspiration coming from that. This is my moment to really capture this. This is my ‘Kodak moment.’
“It puts me at the top, the face of boxing,” said Ryan when asked what a win over Tank will do for him. The person that wins this fight will lead the next generation of boxing.
“That would make me go back to the drawing board and understand what I was off about. I would have to rebuild myself and get back to it. That’s just the reality if I lost. What else am I supposed to do? I’m not going to sit in the corner and just cry about it.
“I’m just going to think of a plan about what I did wrong. I would say that Gervonta is a ‘bad man’ because you can’t beat me. It’s not going to be an average person that beats me. You’re going to have to be a bad man. So if he does, he’s a bad man, and I appreciate that moment,” said Ryan.
“I’m at peace. I feel no pressure. I’m just ready to do what I always do. I’m not going to force anything. I’m just going to get in the ring, and I know how to explode with shots. I see things.
“I feel at peace. It’s just another fight that I have to get in tune and train hard and do what I’ve always done because I’ve always given it my all in every training camps. So the same way I did then, I’m doing now, and I’m prepared to be me. Be Ryan.
“Mike Tyson said the same thing. ‘That boy don’t look like he’s going to lose.’ I’m glad that’s coming out of me,” said Garcia.
“You get a new experience every time. In boxing, you never know what’s going to happen in the ring. There are new moments all the time. In basketball, you kind of know there’s going to be a dunk and a three-point shot. In football, you know there are going to be some good catches.
“In boxing, most of the time, it’s a new experience. One time, Mike Tyson might bite your ear off. You just don’t know what’s going to happen in a fight, and the anticipation is different because it really gets down to the core of human nature like a fight.
“It’s different emotion. You know that sometimes you’re fighting for your life. So I think everybody feels that energy. So they want to be ready for this moment. I like that. You got to bring that back. In the 90s, everybody was wearing their nicest suits to the fight.
“I think this fight is bringing it back. You feel that tension, and I think people are going to bring that to Vegas. It’s going to be so many people. It’s going to be nuts. Most of the time, you don’t even hear the crowd because you’re so focused, making quick decisions on the fly.
“Boxing is quick decisions and the right decisions because things are always changing in a fight. You’ve got to keep control in the ring. So if you’re not paying attention to it, you can lose control, and you can lose the position you want to be at.
“It demands your focus, or you could get caught. There are times where, ‘I know I’m going to knock him out. I feel good. I’m going to finish him off.’ That’s the time when you feel it. ‘Yeah, this is my moment. Let’s go.’
“Most of the time, it’s ‘focus, focus,’ and you don’t hear the crowd. Sometimes I hear my mom, though. Maybe because her voice is so familiar to me that I’m able to spot it out really quick,” said Ryan.
