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Ryan Garcia doesn’t think his demand for them to fight at the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds should prevent Gervonta Davis from embracing their showdown.
There are other obstacles, mostly related to promoters and platforms, that could prevent Garcia and Davis from fighting later this year. Weight, however, shouldn’t be an issue, according to Garcia.
“I think he’ll be more comfortable at 140,” Garcia said in the aftermath of his sixth-round knockout of Javier Fortuna. “He’s had problems making weight in the past, so any jump in weight probably will help him, if anything.”
The 23-year-old Garcia didn’t start mentioning that he won’t fight again at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds until after he weighed in exactly at 140 pounds Friday for his 12-round fight against Fortuna the next night at Crypto.com Arena. Fortuna’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, told BoxingScene.com that it was Fortuna that needed to fight Garcia at a higher weight because he didn’t have enough time from when their fight was made to get down to 135 pounds.
Nevertheless, his victory over Fortuna marked a second straight junior welterweight fight for Garcia, who weighed in at 138¾ pounds for his 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat of Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio.
Davis has fought at the 140-pound limit once, but he has competed almost exclusively as a junior lightweight and a lightweight since he turned pro nine years ago.
The powerful southpaw stopped Mario Barrios in the 11th round of his only junior welterweight fight, which took place in June 2021 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Baltimore’s Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) weighed in at 139¾ pounds for his win against San Antonio’s Barrios, who was 26-0 when they fought.
The 5-foot-10 Barrios is the same height as Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs). Davis might not want to give away five additional pounds to Garcia, though, in addition to what would be more than a four-inch height disadvantage.
The 27-year-old Davis’ two fights since he beat Barrios by technical knockout have been contested at the lightweight maximum of 135. The WBA world lightweight champion came in at 133¾ pounds for his sixth-round knockout of Rolando Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) on May 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Regardless, Garcia contended after defeating Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) that he is done with the lightweight division.
“I felt way better [at 140 pounds],” Garcia told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in the ring. “I’m not going back down to 135 for nothing. But I will fight Tank next. If Tank wants that at 140, hey, but hey, hey, I’m gonna record all the negotiations, so he, so you guys don’t make no headlines saying I’m ducking. If he want it, let’s get it!”
Garcia, of Victorville, California, floored Fortuna three times – once apiece in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. Referee Jerry Cantu counted out Fortuna after a left hook by Garcia sent the Dominican southpaw to one knee just 19 seconds into the sixth round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.