Gervonta Davis Drops Ryan Garcia Twice, Knocks Him Out in Seventh

LAS VEGAS – Ryan Garcia went down during the second round from a left hand again Saturday night.

This time, however, Garcia was the one who was knocked out with a brutal body shot during the seventh round. Gervonta Davis caught Garcia with a perfectly placed left to his body that caused a delayed reaction and made Garcia take a knee with 1:30 to go in the seventh round at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena.

A temporarily immobilized Garcia couldn’t answer referee Thomas Taylor’s count in time and lost by knockout. Davis was declared the winner of their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at 1:44 of the seventh round.

Baltimore’s Davis (29-0, 27 KOs), who went off as slightly more than a 2-1 favorite, has knocked out 19 of his last 20 opponents and 93 percent of them overall.

“I didn’t think it was over, but I seen his face,” Davis told Showtime’s Jim Gray in the ring. “I seen his face. That’s what made me think it was over.”

Davis initially thought Garcia would get up and continue to compete in a 12-round, non-title fight that contested at a contracted catch weight of 136 pounds.

“When he was looking at me,” Davis said, “I was looking at him like, trying to tell him, ‘Get up.’ And then he just shook his head no.”

The 28-year-old Davis was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

Judge Steve Weisfeld (59-55) scored five of the six completed rounds for Davis, who won four rounds on judge Tim Cheatham’s card (58-56). Judge Dave Moretti (59-56) scored four rounds for Davis and – rather oddly – the second round even (10-10).

Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, lost for the first time in nearly seven years as a pro in a high-profile fight he pushed to make happen. He got up from a second-round knockdown and knocked out British southpaw Luke Campbell with a vicious body blow of his own in the seventh round of their January 2021 bout at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

“He just caught me with a great shot,” said Garcia, who was bleeding from his nose when he went down to one knee. “I don’t wanna make no excuses in here. He caught me with a great shot and I just couldn’t recover at that stage. You know, that’s all I can say. He caught me with a great shot. … I was gonna get back up, but yeah, I just couldn’t get up.”

The 24-year-old Garcia lamented that he gave Davis too much respect during their fight, but he expressed nothing but respect for his rival afterward.

“Tank is a great fighter,” Garcia said. “I take my hat off to him. I know we talked a lotta sh*t coming up in here, but he knows what it is. It’s all love at the end of the day. I was honored to be in the ring with a great fighter and I respect him a lot.”

Moments before Davis delivered the knockout blow, a short right hand by Garcia landed flush and made Davis, who was backed into his own corner, tie him up barely 20 seconds into the seventh round.

Davis landed a left in an exchange with 45 seconds to go in the sixth round. Garcia connected with three right hands that backed up Davis and then knocked him into the ropes nearly 50 seconds into the sixth round.

Garcia covered up awkwardly with just under a minute remaining in the fifth round, which enabled Davis to land a right hook to his body. Davis lunged forward and landed a left barely a minute into the fifth round.

Garcia fired a right hand just after the midway mark of the fourth round, but Davis partially blocked it, shook his head and came forward. Davis landed a jab a little more than 50 seconds into the fourth round.

Davis and Garcia both boxed carefully in the third round, a round after each of them were hurt.

Garcia landed a right hand that made Davis hold him early in the second round. Davis appeared buzzed by that shot, but he held to regain his senses until Taylor separated them.

Davis held some more until he drilled Garcia with a crushing counter left hand on the inside that sent Garcia to the seat of his trunks with just under a minute to go in the second round. Garcia beat Taylor’s count, but Davis didn’t capitalize on hurting him..

Garcia came forward as soon as their bout began and threw a left hook. Davis worked off his back foot and mostly feinted and pawed with his jab until an uneventful first round ended.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.