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Ryan Garcia and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis even have the former baddest man on the planet in on the act.
The pair of unbeaten boxers continue to circle one another as interest grows over the thought of a superlight between two of the sport’s brightest young stars. That energy spilled over into a recent edition of ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson’ podcast, hosted by the former undisputed heavyweight champion, who had Garcia as his onsite guest.
Garcia (21-0, 18KOs) emerged as the talk of the town following an off-the-canvas 7th round knockout of England’s Luke Campbell (20-4, 16KOs) on Jan. 2 in Dallas, Texas. Foremost on the mind of the 22-year old Victorville, California product—both before and after his DAZN-streamed headliner–was talk of an explosive showdown with Baltimore’s Davis (24-0, 23KOs), a two-division titlist who has knocked out his last 15 opponents.
During the segment, a producer informed Tyson that Davis was on the phone and ready to join in on the conversation. Tyson helped fan the flames, though it didn’t take much goading to get them to playfully trash talk one another while further arousing interest.
“Mike, he got dropped by a guy that can’t even hit,” Davis exclaimed while on Facetime with Tyson.
That’s all it took for the interview to go to another level.
“Go ahead and hit me with that shot,” dared a bow-tied García in response before mocking the five-inch height advantage he enjoys over the 26-year old southpaw. “Look at him… you gonna need a StairMaster, boy!
Garcia was dropped by an overhand left from Campbell in the 2nd round of their interim title fight, before coming back to gain control of the fight before scoring a one-punch body shot knockout. Still, it’s hard to fault Davis for wondering what that moment would look like had the same shot come from a more potent southpaw puncher.
“Mike, Mike! If I would’ve hit him, you know I would’ve killed him after that,” vowed Davis.
Concrete proof his Davis’ power came in most recent performance, a one-punch of four-division champ Leo Santa Cruz who had never been dropped or stopped through 39 pro fights prior to their clash last Halloween. Davis flattened Santa Cruz with a single left uppercut towards the end of the 6th round in their Showtime Pay-Per-View headliner at The Alamodome in San Antonio.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that punch finds its mark against any given target.
“Keyword, keyword: would’ve… if. If you would’ve,” García mocked Davis in response.
“I’m gonna fight him next,” Davis vowed. “I’m gonna fight him next.”
Garcia will soon be ordered to enter negotiations for a mandatory title challenge of unbeaten titlist Devin Haney (25-0, 15KOs). There exists the option to pass on the fight, as a showdown with Davis—currently training though without a fight date or next opponent—would represent one of the biggest fights to be made in the sport today.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox