Ryan Garcia brushes off mind game ‘tricks’ from Gervonta Davis as mega fight is plunged into doubt
- Lewis Oldham
- 17 January 2023
Ryan Garcia has brushed off mind games from rival Gervonta Davis but the mega bout has frustratingly been plunged into doubt once again.
Davis returned to the ring earlier this month as he beat Hector Luis Garcia inside nine rounds. He stepped up the gears as the bout went on and won with relative ease.
Unlike 'Tank', Garcia has opted against having a tune-up fight ahead of their planned clash on April 15.
Garcia has suggested that Davis' fight against Garcia was "risky" as he could have got hurt.
"So all these things I've had to do, and I was just like, 'You know what? I'm not going to fight again,'" Garcia said on The MMA Hour.
"I'm not going to go have something out of the blue happen to me, and I'm going to go straight to Tank. If I truly believe I'll beat him, I'll always believe I'll beat him."
He continued: "I was like, 'Man, this is kind of risky' [Davis taking interim fight]. It's not the fact that he could lose - he could hurt his hand. Things could just happen getting ready for a fight.
"To me, it's too risky, but he wanted to do his thing, he had a great performance, and hopefully nothing happens between now and April."
Garcia has also claimed that lavish demands are being made by Davis and his team to get him to pull the plug on the bout.
"I think they were trying to give me ways to say, 'F*** this, I'm not going through all this,' especially with the weight, with the changing of dates, trying to prolong my inactivity," Garcia added.
"All this stuff, it's just a game, saying I'm on steroids, I see all the tricks.
But they don't know who they're messing with. My mentality is strong, whether they believe it or not."
Garcia vs Davis is one of the biggest fights in boxing, with both boxers capable of selling out arenas in the United States and they are major names globally.
But the bout is already in doubt for numerous reasons. Davis' legal issues is a problem to overcome as he was jailed before the New Year on a domestic violence charge.
Also, Garcia's promoter - Oscar De La Hoya - issued an ultimatum to Davis' team in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Speaking via Twitter, he claimed that he has "no contract" for Garcia vs Davis so he will "move on" if there was no progress by Monday.
It is yet to be seen if the fighter's teams made progress before De La Hoya's alleged "deadline", but the tweet alone is a bad sign as it looks like discussions are going awry.
Boxing keeps finding a way to shaft its fans with Garcia vs Davis seemingly another example of a must-make fight that will not happen because of unnecessary politics.
It's becoming increasingly difficult for fans to defend the sport as huge fights fall by the wayside. Promoters and boxers simply must do better.
