One thing missing from yesterday’s big announcement about Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia was the identity of Davis’ January 7th opponent, who would keep him busy ahead of an April clash with “Kingry.”
We may now have our answer, as the historically reliable Julius Julianis reports that Davis will meet WBA super featherweight champion Hector Luis Garcia in Washington DC.
Garcia (16-0, 10 KO), a 2016 Olympian representing his native Dominican Republic, burst into prominence with a one-sided upset of Chris Colbert in February. This earned him a crack at reigning champion Roger Gutierrez, whom Garcia replaced against Colbert. While it wasn’t quite the shellacking he gave Colbert, he nonetheless claimed the title from an uncharacteristically passive Gutierrez in August.
Despite moving up from 130 for this matchup, he’ll enjoy a four-inch height advantage over Davis (27-0, 25 KO), though the latter has half an inch of reach on him.
It’s unfortunate that he had to dip into the weight class below to find an opponent, but as far as tune-ups go, this is good’un. Garcia’s plenty skilled, if nothing else, and could give Davis a decent test if he can stand up to “Tank’s” power.
UPDATE: Davis has confirmed the fight on Instagram.