Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia results, highlights: Tank avoids scorecards, scores KO win with body shot

Andreas Hale

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Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia results, highlights: Tank avoids scorecards, scores KO win with body shot image

LAS VEGAS -- After all the trash-talking and social media callouts, Gervonta Davis put an end to Ryan Garcia with a body shot in the seventh round in front of 20,842 fans at T-Mobile Arena in a 136-pound catchweight bout that is almost certain to be the biggest pay per view of 2023. The punch from Davis didn't look like much initially but it caused Garcia to take a knee and he was unable to make it to his feet before the count of ten. A sublime finish to a non-title fight featuring two wildly popular young stars that was certainly deserving of the hype it received. 

It was a stunning yet definitive finish with a rabid and star-studded crowd left in awe by the Baltimore fighter appropriately nicknamed "Tank."

“I’m definitely the face of boxing," Davis said following the biggest victory of his career. "Absolutely!”

Garcia started out fast and pressured Davis from the outset. After a first round where both fighters sought to find their range, Garcia began to open up with power punches in the second with quite a few hooks getting around Davis' guard. But nothing seemed to hurt Davis as he remained composed until he placed a beautiful counter left hand that sent Garcia to the canvas.

MORE: Social media reactions to Tank's KO win over King Ryan

That punch changed the entire complexion of the fight.

"The first knockdown was just him not knowing his placement and I knew that I was the smaller guy, and my coach was telling me in camp that he’s going to come up with his head up, so just shoot over the top," said Davis.

From that point on, Garcia's aggressive approach was toned down and every Davis feint caused "King Ryan" to react. Davis' punch output remained low as he looked for the perfect punch. But that allowed Garcia to slowly crawl his way back into the fight in the middle rounds. Eventually, Garcia started feeling comfortable again and that's exactly what Davis wanted.

In round six, the 24-year-old Garcia regained his confidence and fired off hooks and jabs with more frequency. It was obvious that Davis was aiming to get Garcia to open up but he needed him to feel comfortable slipping back into his offense. Davis started to make deposits to the body and in the seventh round they began to pay off.

Garcia fired a right hand high and it left his 5-foot-10 frame available to Davis, who promptly deposited a thudding left hand to the body that may have been overlooked. But Garcia felt it and stepped away from his rival before taking a knee.

Garcia had no choice but to watch as the referee reached the count of ten as the crowd was left stunned by the abrupt ending.

“I didn’t think that body shot would end it, but I saw his facial expression and that’s what made me take it to him," Davis said. "It was a good shot, for sure. I thought he was going to get up but I like to play mind games, so when he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to tell him, ‘Get up!’. And he just shook his head, no."

Although deflated, Garcia gave Davis his props for finishing the job.

“He just caught me with a good shot," Garcia said. "I don’t want to make any excuses in here. He caught me with a good shot and I just couldn’t recover and that’s it. He caught me with a good body shot, snuck under me and caught me good.

“I couldn’t breathe. I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up."

Davis (29-0) collected his 27th knockout and proclaimed himself as the new face of boxing while Garcia (23-1) suffers the first loss of his pro career. Without a rematch clause, Garcia will have to go back to the drawing board and likely move up to 140 pounds while Davis has plenty of options regarding his future. He could go after the winner of the undisputed lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20 or also move up to 140 pounds where the likes of Teofimo Lopez and Josh Taylor are. 

Here's how it all went down in Las Vegas.

Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia results, highlights

Round One: Garcia starts jabbing and fires a hook. Tank is circling away and Garcia is in his face. Hook to the body by Garcia. Jab from Tank lands. A lot of respect right now. Left hook from Garcia lands after a pair of jabs. Tank struggling to get inside. Trying to find his range after a feel out first round. 

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia

Round Two: Garcia back to pressing forward to open the round. Flashes a jab. Big combination by Garcia lands. A huge left hook and Tank is holding on! Garcia is after Tank. Tank is composed though. Left hook barely misses by Garcia. He's pushing hard to hurt Tank. Lots of in fighting. Chopping right hand by Garcia. Uppercut from Garcia and TAnk counters! Down goes Ryan!!! Garcia is up! The crowd is nuts. Hard left hand by Tank. Garcia won't be greedy again.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-8 Davis (19-18 Davis)

Round Three: Garcia pressing again to start round three. Tank moving forward now and barely misses a straight left. Left to the body by Garcia. Tank looking for the perfect shot or a counter. They are missing some big punches. Right hand lands by Garcia. Not a lot here but Garcia takes the round.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (28-28)

Round Four: Garcia starts by jabbing. Tank is almost too patient. Little left to the body by Garcia and Tank responds. Jab from Garcia. Short right by Garcia. Nothing big but he's scoring. Tank with a left hand to the body. Right hand by Tank down the middle. Tank to the body again. Exchange of jabs. Counter right by Tank lands. Tough round to score.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Davis (38-37 Davis)

Round Five: Garcia out the gate in pursuit and jabbing again. Counter right grazes Garcia's chin. Tank looking for the pull counter. Garcia is hesitant to open up. Tank coming forward and bangs to the body. Tank making Garcia react to everything. Left to the body by Tank. He has Garcia a little shook.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Davis (48-46 Davis)

Round Six: Garcia is going to have to take some risks soon. Hard right hand by Garcia and another and another! Tank takes them well and looks to hand out a receipt. Jab from Ryan lands. Right to the body by Tank. The crowd has dueling chants. Tank making deposits to the body. Left hook from Garcia lands. Garcia beginning to open up again. Good round for Garcia.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (57-56 Davis)

Round Seven: Garcia lands a combination. Jab for Garcia as Tank moves forward. Hard right hand from Tank. Combination from Garcia. Right hook from Garcia and a body shot puts Garcia down! He can't answer the count. It's over!!!!!!

SN Unofficial Scorecard: --

 

Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia scorecards

Although Davis was ahead on all three scorecards, there was some peculiar scoring particularly in the second round when Davis knocked down Garcia yet did not receive a 10-8 score on any of the three judge's cards.

 

 

 

Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia undercard results

David Morrell destroys Yamaguchi Falcao in one round

10:26 p.m. ET: David Morrell is not interested in seeing this fight go the distance and is plowing through Falcao. There's a knockdown. Morrell is killing Falcao. This is about to be over and we're going to have a nice looooong break. Yup, Morrell just DESTROYED Falcao and left him face-first on the canvas with a menacing right hook. Meanwhile, the arena is beginning to fill up as celebrities take their seat (check out the full list here as it is being updated live). We're about to have a decent amount of downtime so go ahead and use the restroom and order a pizza. 

10:06 p.m. ET: The co-main event is up next as David Morrell Jr. faces late replacement Yamaguchi Falcao. Yes, it's early. 

Bektemir Melikuziev avenges knockout loss with decision over Gabriel Rosado

10:01 p.m. ET: That was just a miserable fight. At least it's over. The scores were 99-91, 99-91 & 99-91. If you managed to stay awake, congratulations. 

9:55 p.m. ET: We're heading into the tenth and final round of a fight that has been absolutely abysmal to watch. Melikuziev is in control and trying to make it a fight but Rosado isn't doing anything but standing around and getting hit. Not the performance anybody expected. 

9:40 p.m. ET: We finally got some action and this very slow-paced fight as Melikuziev rocks Rosado in the fifth and seems to be picking up the pace. Rosado has been stuck in neutral the entire fight and will need a knockout if he hopes to win. It's just not a great fight. 

9:30 p.m. ET: Well, this hasn't been great. Three rounds down and Rosado and Melikuziev have landed about three punches total. The crowd ain't having it and are making sure both fighters hear about it. At least Gervonta Davis is here. 

9:20 p.m. ET: Up next is the rematch between Gabriel Rosado and Bektemir Melikuziev. Rosado stunned Melikuziev by knocking out the undefeated fighter in 2021. Rosado is a massive underdog in the rematch but can he duplicate the success?

9:00 p.m. ET: Well, Elijah Garcia couldn't get the stoppage but he'll remain undefeated with a unanimous decision victory. Was it exciting? No. But it got the job done as Garcia improves to 15-0.  

8:44 p.m. ET: Elijah Garcia is starting to ramp up the punishment on Salgado as the sixth round saw him land a good deal of power shots from the outside that stunned his opponent. He's in full control of a rather ho-hum fight. All that's left to see is if he can get the stoppage because he's clearly the better fighter thus far. 

8:30 p.m. ET: We're three rounds into the Garcia-Salgado fight. Nothing too eventful is happening and the arena is about 15% full right now. 

8:15 p.m. ET: Kicking things off will be Elijah Garcia vs. Kevin Salgado in middleweights action. It's a very, very, very late-arriving crowd tonight. Still just a handful of people in the arena.  

8 p.m. ET: We are LIVE! Mauro Ranallo Brian Custer, Al Bernstein, and Abner Mares welcome us to fight night.  

7:35 p.m. ET: Czerkaszyn won his fight via TKO in the ninth following a few body shots to Espadas, as the referee saw enough. 

7:30 p.m. ET: The Sporting News is ready for Davis vs. Garcia!

7:15 p.m. ET: The T-Mobile Arena started to fill up as the prelims continue on. 

6:50 p.m. ET: The second prelim fight is underway as Fiodor Czerkaszyn faces Elias Espadas. 

6:45 p.m. ET: The guest list for the fight is discussed, including Michael B. Jordan and Bad Bunny. 

6:30 p.m. ET: The trio are discussing who the pressure is on the most. 

6:15 p.m. ET: Charles was taken down twice in the third round and once in the fourth. Mielnicki, 20, won via knockout. 

6 p.m. ET - Fans are already in their seats at the prelims are underway. Jose Charles faces Vito Mielnicki Jr. Ariel Helwani and Brian Campbell are on the call, along with Kate Abdo. 

Welcome everyone to The Sporting News' live coverage of Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia. The main card starts at 8 p.m. ET | 1 a.m. BST | 10 a.m. AEST.

When is Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia? 

  • Date: Saturday, April 22 | Sunday, April 23
  • Start time: 8 p.m. ET | 1 a.m. BST | 10 a.m. AEST
  • Main event: 11:30 p.m. ET | 4:30 a.m. BST | 1:30 p.m. AEST (approx.)

Davis vs. Garcia will take place on April 22. The main card starts at 8 p.m. ET | 1 a.m. BST | 10 a.m. AEST. Both fighters should make their way to the round around 11:30 p.m. ET | 4:30 a.m. BST | 1:30 p.m. AEST, depending on how long the undercard fights last. 

How to watch Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia

Country Date Channel + Live Stream (main card)
United States/Canada Sat. April 22 Showtime PPV / DAZN PPV, PPV.com
United Kingdom Sun. April 23 DAZN
Australia Sun. April 23 DAZN PPV, Main Event on Kayo

Fans can watch Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia via Showtime pay-per-view and DAZN pay-per-view. The fight is available as part of your DAZN subscription in the U.K. and via DAZN PPV in Australia. 

MORE: Join DAZN to watch Davis vs. Garcia

You can stream on Showtime via Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox ONE, your laptop, and any mobile or tablet device.

Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia PPV price: How much does the fight cost? 

  • The price for the PPV event on Showtime is $84.99
  • The price for the PPV event on DAZN is $60 
  • DAZN monthly subscription: $19.99 on a 12-month contract or $24.99 month-to-month in U.S. / $24.99 per month in Canada / £9.99 in the U.K. on a 12-month contract or £19.99 month-to-month / 13.99 AUD
  • DAZN annual subscription: $224.99 in U.S., $199.99 in Canada, £99.99 in the U.K.

Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia results

  • Gervonta Davis def. Ryan Garcia via 7th round KO (1:44)
  • David Morrell Jr. def. Yamaguchi Falcao via 1st round KO (2:22) to retain the WBA (Regular) super middleweight title
  • Bektemir Melikuziev def. Gabriel Rosado via unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91 & 99-91)
  • Elijah Garcia def. Kevin Salgado via unanimous decision (95-94, 97-92 & 97-92)

Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale Photo

Andreas Hale is the senior editor for combat sports at The Sporting News. Formerly at DAZN, Hale has written for various combat sports outlets, including The Ring, Sherdog, Boxing Scene, FIGHT, Champions and others. He has been ringside for many of combat sports’ biggest events, which include Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-McGregor, Canelo-GGG, De La Hoya-Pacquiao, UFC 229, UFC 202 and UFC 196, among others. He also has spent nearly two decades in entertainment journalism as an editor for BET and HipHopDX while contributing to MTV, Billboard, The Grio, The Root, Revolt, The Source, The Grammys and a host of others. He also produced documentaries on Kendrick Lamar, Gennadiy Golovkin and Paul George for Jay-Z’s website Life+Times.