It’s comforting to return to the truth after a period of boxing suffering from an identity crisis caused by YouTube. Two young unbeaten boxers, both well-educated and dedicated, both thrilling talent on their own path, both totally confident of their own destiny. Yet only one can win. Many narratives can be combined to create exciting fights, but only a few are as effective as this. To coin a phrase no one uses anymore, “someone’s zero has to go.”
On Saturday night, Gervonta tank Davis (28-0), the current WBA lightweight champion, will be in one corner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Baltimore southpaw who is a true boxing cliche in and out of the ring, has it all. The rough-and-tumble kid from the bad side of town. The one who boxing saved from a life full of madness.
Davis began boxing at age seven, but he had been fighting for years before. Uncle saw one of his street fights and recognized the raw talent. He brought him to a fitness center. Tank’s life had been a litany what psychologists call ACES (adverse child experiences) in the early years. As a child, his drug-addicted parents often left him and his brother on their own. He was then removed from his parents’ care and placed into group foster homes, where he had to fight bigger kids just to survive. After being rescued by her grandmother, Davis moved to one Baltimore’s most dangerous districts where he was forced to prove himself as the new kid in the neighborhood. Davis, unlike most children his age, learned to read and ride a bike.
Children like Davis who grow up in a chaotic environment, with ACES all around them, are more likely to become adults themselves. Or maybe they’re professional fighters. In this way, he did not choose boxing. Not really. Boxing was his choice.
Ryan Garcia (23-0) will face him across the Vegas ring. He started boxing at the age of Davis. He has a matinee idol look, is chiselled and slick-haired with matinee icon looks. He was introduced to boxing by his father who is still working with him today. A kid from California, not the urban decay of Maryland. A kid from a stable family with the clean-cut demeanour and mannerisms of a choir member. Many have written him off as being a “pretty boy.” Yet, 19 KOs and a devastating left-hook, along with his electric speed and instinctive time, have told their own tale. Garcia may not be a rag-tag fighter, but he is a serious and disciplined fighter who is not afraid to show his vulnerability in public.
Garcia is a man who brings the honesty of the ring into his everyday life. You can’t get between the ropes, and he won’t try to hide when he speaks. An old fashioned, straight-up, no-nonsense kid. Ryan Garcia is a man who deserves respect.
Embed from Getty Images Despite Davis’ current status as a world champion, the WBA lightweight belt will not be on the line. Garcia prefers to fight at super-light (140lb), so the fight was made at 136lb. The ‘king’ should be the bigger man, but the 10lb rehydration contract will ensure that the advantage is not too large.
There are echoes of Dempsey and Tunney, Duran and Leonard, Liston and Ali (Clay), as well as many other boxing classics. Will Davis’ street rawness combined with his talent and skill overcome the polished athletic prowess the Garcia?
World In Sport Prediction
It’s a fight that can be viewed as a “pick ’em” match, and it’s easy to argue for either. Both are elite fighters in the lightweight and super-lightweight divisions, and the winner will move up to the highest echelons.
Garcia has predicted that he will beat Davis in four rounds and talks with a sense of purpose. Davis, on the other hand, has suggested that it will be a long, drawn-out affair in which Garcia falters in the latter rounds. Davis, despite the strength of both men’s armouries, appears to have more variety and more options if something does not go his way. He may also have a stronger touch of the indefinable X-factor. It’s hard to imagine either man giving up.
A fight can be decided by a single moment. It could be a cut, or even a stroke. Gervonta is the winner on points for all of the reasons listed above.