They didn’t have to do this. They didn’t have to listen to their fans. They don’t have to risk their perfect boxing records. There’s no major world title on the line. There’s no reason to do this aside from the world watching two of boxing’s best young talents squaring off with an opportunity to change the perception of fighters having to protect a perfect record.
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The 24-year-old Ryan Garcia and the 28-year-old Gervonta “Tank” Davis could have made the boxing world suffer by allowing the fight to “marinate” until they felt demand reached a fevered pitch. But we’ve seen that strategy fail when fans begin to lose interest. Floyd Mayweather often boasts that making the world wait six years for his mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao put both fighters in position to break attendance, gate, and PPV records while cashing an enormous check. Unfortunately, when Mayweather and Pacquiao finally fought in 2015 when Mayweather was 38 and his Filipino rival was 36, their prime years had passed them by. The result was a relatively unexciting fight that Mayweather dominated, leaving fans feeling robbed of what they once thought would be an epic clash of styles.
The same thing is happening today as the boxing world waits with bated breath for 33-year-old Errol Spence Jr. and 35-year-old Terence Crawford to sign on the dotted line to face each other. But now their financial demands have complicated matters and it’s possible that instead of marinating to the perfect temperature, the fight is overcooked and will end up being thrown away.
Davis and Garcia aren’t interested in world titles or maximizing potential earnings. They are already set to make a lot of money and what’s on the line is arguably worth more than a world title. For them, there are bigger fish to fry after this, and giving fans what they want now will carry a lot of weight for the sport in the future. It can also force other young fighters to sign and face each other sooner than later.
“This is the fight to save boxing. Literally,” Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya said recently. “Every decade has its fight to save boxing. This is the fight to save boxing. The reason why is because you have two young guys, two undefeated guys, who are the best of the best, willing to fight each other. You can see and feel the anticipation.”
What’s important is that Davis and Garcia realize that losing isn’t the end of the world for either fighter. Obviously, the winner moves on to bigger and better things but there’s no reason to believe that Garcia’s career would end before he’s 25 or Tank cannot redeem himself before he turns 30.
The great “Sugar” Ray Leonard suffered his first loss as a professional as a 24-year-old against Roberto Duran. The loss didn’t ruin his career. As a matter of fact, it enhanced his career when he bounced back to defeat Duran in the infamous "No Mas" affair five months later. At the time of the loss, Leonard made over $9 million for the fight. In the rematch, he received $7 million. When he risked it all again against Tommy Hearns a year later, he stopped his undefeated rival in an epic battle and made $11 million.
Leonard is still widely regarded as one of the best to ever lace up a pair of gloves.
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Ryan Garcia enters his fight with Gervonta Davis at the same age Leonard was when he faced Duran.
“This is a huge fight for boxing,” Garcia said at a recent media workout. “It can really change the trajectory of the sport and inspire young fighters to get it on right now. People are going to love you. They’re going to see that you went out there and you fought the best and you gave it your all. Even if you win or even if you lose, you showed them what a champion is in life.”
Davis may be older by four years but his career as a superstar is just really getting started. Fighting Garcia now sets the table for future lucrative showdowns against the likes of Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson. Davis also knows that the lone criticism is that he hasn’t faced one of the bigger names in the sport. Regardless of whether he wins or loses, the future is filled with nothing but big fights for the Baltimore native.
“This win would mean a lot,” Davis said last week at his media workout in Las Vegas. “Beating someone young, explosive and in their prime says a lot. I feel like this fight is big for the sport. We’re drawing in a lot of people and a win on that night is really like winning a world title again.”
In an era where the average attention span is the length of a TikTok video, there’s no time to waste when it comes to striking while the iron is hot. Both Davis and Garcia are coming off wins and the social media era of fight fans aren’t interested in seeing these two young talents fight anyone else but each other.
April 22nd could start a domino effect where fighters decide to stop protecting an unbeaten record and chase a legacy. Davis and Garcia didn’t have to do this but thank the boxing Gods that they did because they have the opportunity to show the sport they love how it should be done.
