Davis vs Garcia: Tank Takes Out Rival With Brutal Body Shot
“I’m definitely the face of boxing - abso-fucking-lutely,” declared Gervonta Davis in the ring after knocking out Ryan Garcia in their highly-awaited showdown.
In what was labelled a defining fight between two rising megastars of the sport, ‘Tank’ propelled his career to new heights with victory, while Garcia was left on his knees picking up the pieces of his own.
Bloodied and forced to his knees gasping for air, Garcia was unable to regain his composure and failed to make the referee’s 10-count, subsequently seeing Tank move to 29-0 and take up the mantle as the new face of boxing.
How Tank Beat Garcia
A cagey opener was predictable from both men in such a pressure-filled match-up but the second round produced immediate fireworks.
After a strong start from Garcia in the round, he found himself climbing off the canvas after a perfectly-timed left hand counter from Tank, who continued applying the pressure in the third.
The Garcia body became the target for Davis in the fourth, as he continuously fired his straight left to the midriff before landing another backhand upstairs as well.
Having been dropped in the second, Garcia’s output lowered with the constant threat of dangerous counters coming back at him when letting his hands go.
It was that sustained body attack and those swift counter shots that proved decisive in the seventh round, with Tank unleashing a sickening left hand to the stomach which paralysed Garcia.
After a delayed reaction, Garcia was forced to take a knee and, gazing up at the referee with anguish across his face, the count reached 10 and saw Davis prevail with a seventh-round knockout.
Echoing a similar stoppage defeat suffered by his mentor Oscar De La Hoya at the hands of Bernard Hopkins back in 2004, Garcia was sent to his knees and simply unable to rise from such a subtle but debilitating body shot.
The new face of boxing
Just as he foreshadowed weeks ago during training camp, Davis ended a monumental night for boxing in the seventh round with a perfectly-placed liver shot.
The subtleness of the fight-winning body shot took the crowd by surprise, with Garcia’s delayed reaction and eventual dropping to his knees sparking disbelieving cheers from those at the T-Mobile Arena.
Asked about the second knockdown post-fight, Davis was somewhat surprised himself, stating: “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.
“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.”
In front of past superstars of the sport such as Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and Mike Tyson at ringside, Tank’s trademark left hand secured him his most high-profile career victory to date and saw him follow in those past greats to become the latest face of boxing today.
TANK COLLECTION
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Header image: Showtime Boxing