Gervonta “Tank” Davis(28-0, 26 KOs) has done it again; he sold out another arena(19,731 fans), Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., and he got another stoppage, as he stopped WBA featherweight champion Hector Luis Garcia(16-1, 10 KOs), who moved up to fight Davis at 135, in the ninth round Saturday night(Showtime PPV/PBC).
The 28-year-old Davis, who retained his WBA(secondary) 135-pound strap, started slow, took his time, and ultimately got to Garcia.
In the eighth round, Davis landed a hard left hand, and Garcia was hurt as he walked back to his corner; he complained to his corner that he could not see. Garcia’s trainer, Bob Santos, advised referee Earl Brown to call off the fight.
The official stoppage came 13 seconds into round nine.
“When I got the shot to my head in the final round, that’s when I couldn’t see from my eye,” Garcia said. “I didn’t know where I was when he hit me with that shot. My vision is back, but my head still hurts. I couldn’t see from my right eye. It was going well up until that point. I was picking my shots.”
Davis added: “I was a little surprised he didn’t come out,” said Davis. “But I knew he was hurt bad, but he’s a fighter, and he didn’t want to show it. I knew he was hurt, though.”
At the time of the stoppage, Davis led 79-73 on two cards and 78-74 on the third, which were all very wide scores. The fight was a little closer than the cards indicated.
According to Compubox, Garcia threw more(345-239), but Davis landed more(99-55), and according to Davis, who landed only four power punches in the first three rounds but connected on 69 in rounds four through eight, him not throwing much was all apart of the plan.
“I wasn’t throwing a lot of shots in the beginning because I was trying to beat him mentally,” Davis said. “I was trying to trick him with my hands and my eyes and things like that because he’s a tough fighter. I had to bait him.”
With Hector Luis Garcia out of the way, Davis can now focus on Ryan Garcia. The two sides have a deal (not official) to fight sometime in April.
“God willing, I’m ready for the fight with Ryan Garcia,” Davis said. “It’s scheduled for April. I’m here. He’s been training. He’s been talking. And let’s see who’s really about that.”
Davis had a lot going on outside the ring before his win over Garcia. He was arrested last week and charged with domestic violence after being accused of striking the mother of one of his daughters, which she later recanted.
Next month, Davis has another legal situation he has to deal with in his hometown of Baltimore. Davis will stand trial for an alleged hit-and-run that happened in November 2020.
Hopefully, he can get these things behind him and go forward with his career.
Davis is a star; at this point, the only thing that could stop him is him.
