Regardless of whether they intend to fork over money for PBC’s inaugural Prime Video PPV on March 30th or even own a Prime subscription, boxing fans will enjoy two free matchups before Keith Thurman and Tim Tszyu kick off PBC’s new era.
The featured attraction pits 20-year-old middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia (16-0, 13 KO), last seen winning a shootout against Armando Resendiz last September, against Kyrone Davis (18-3-1, 6 KO). The press release calls Davis a “contender” who had a “hard-fought contest” with David Benavidez, which is a rather rosy way of looking at things; “Shut it Down’s” greatest accomplishment is a 2021 draw with Anthony Dirrell and he failed to take a round from Benavidez en route to a seventh-round stoppage.
Very much a step back for Garcia, but it’s not like he’s on a time crunch.
“I’m excited to be back in the ring, especially on this first event with PBC and Prime Video,” said García. “Fighting on these major events is an incredible blessing and I plan on delivering another great performance. Kyrone Davis has been in the ring with some very good fighters, and it will be a challenging fight, but my plan is to get the win by any means necessary. The fans are going to see an incredible night of boxing on March 30 and everyone should be tuning in.”
“Elijah García is a very good fighter who’s young and hungry and he looks the part, but most importantly he’s been moved right,” said Davis. “Sometimes you can look better than you really are if you’re being moved right. I got asked about this fight last year and of course I said yes. Then everything went silent. Now, I face Cruse Stewart and he goes the distance with me and Elijah stopped him, so now he fights me. I’m not going to say too much, but I’m glad they took the fight. We’ll see if Garcia is really the future come March 30.”
The other (allegedly) sees WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (20-2, 15 KO) defend his title against Angelino Cordova (18-0-1, 12 KO) in a matchup previously planned for December before “Rey” ran into visa issues.
Cordova doesn’t appear to be a a particularly fearsome contender having gotten this opportunity thanks to what was reportedly a questionable win over Angel Acosta, so the bigger question is whether Martinez can make it to the ring. “Rey” once stood atop the flyweights as one of the sport’s most electric action fighters, but a mix of underwhelming performances and withdrawals left him behind as the division moved on.
“I’m ready to give it my all in training camp for this fight,” said Martínez. “I want all of the big fights and big prizes this year. My plan is to go earn this win on March 30 and end up with my hand raised. Then I’m going for all the belts, no matter who I have to face. I’m going to be the last man standing.”
“I’m very thankful that this fight is on and confirmed,” said Cordova. “My team did a great job making sure that this fight was rescheduled, and I’m thrilled it’s part of a huge card like this. I’m excited to finally face Martínez on March 30. The only thing on my mind is becoming the new WBC world champion.”