Most of 2022, fans eagerly awaited a superfight between Terence “Bud” Crawford, WBO welterweight champion, and Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr, holder of the WBA/WBC/IBF welterweight titles. Sadly, the match for the undisputed welterweight championship did not happen.
In addition, fans were also keeping a close watch on another potential superfight between the highly skilled WBA “regular” champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis and the undefeated Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs). The possibility of this matchup gained traction in January 2021 when Ryan Garcia appeared on Mike Tyson’s ‘Hotboxin’ podcast.
During his guest appearance on the podcast, Garcia had the opportunity to have a face-to-face verbal confrontation with Gervonta Davis through a video chat. Following the podcast episode, Garcia and Davis continued their back-and-forth on social media.
Ryan Garcia had a tendency to challenge top boxers, but eventually, Gervonta Davis became his main focus. After winning a unanimous decision against Emmanuel Tagoe in April 2022, Garcia spoke in a post-fight interview and acknowledged his repeated behaviour of calling out his arch-rival.
“In the past, I’m always with the call-outs, but I’ve grown, and I’ve matured, and I’m going to let my team handle it. I’m going to let all my coaches and everybody, and when it’s done, it’s done.”
Garcia soon returned to the ring, fighting again only three months later. He put on an impressive display, knocking out Javier Fortuna in the 6th round. In the post-fight interview, Garcia had a change of mind and decided to return to his previous pattern of behaviour.
“I’m not going down to 135 for nothing, but I will fight Tank next. If Tank wants it at 140… hey, hey, I’m going to record all the negotiations, so you guys don’t make no headlines saying I’m ducking.”
Garcia also added, “That’s going to give me the respect that I deserve, and I’m never afraid. I’m trying to tell you that I have a spirit of competition in me, and you’re going to see that come out when I fight Tank and whoop his a**.”
After months of speculation and false reports about fight dates, both Davis and Garcia announced on social media in November 2022 that the fight was “Done deal”. Shortly after, Davis revealed his plans for a warm-up fight before facing Ryan Garcia.
On the night of January 7th at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) secured a 9th round TKO victory over Hector Luis Garcia. At this point, fight fans immediately focused on the planned April 15th date, but unfortunately, the fight was put in jeopardy due to missing paperwork.
Fans eagerly awaited the signing of the contract, but over a week has passed and it has yet to be signed. De La Hoya announced that the terms have been agreed upon, but as is known, the fight is not official until the contract is signed.
Boxing fans were greatly disappointed in 2022, and it is hoped that the Davis vs. Garcia superfight can start the year 2023 well by taking place in April. Currently, the date and location have been set, but a signed agreement is yet to be secured.
Oscar De La Hoya and Ryan Garcia were eager to take a photograph when they received the official document. It is hoped that when the time comes, they will have the same enthusiasm to take another photograph for the fans, this time holding the signed contract for the fight.
