Ismael Salas Believes Gervonta Davis is the World's Top Lightweight after Impressive Victory Over Ryan Garcia
Gervonta Davis has established himself as the world’s finest lightweight, according to Ismael Salas.
By stopping Ryan Garcia in seven rounds on Saturday at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena Davis recorded the biggest victory of his career, having also made a one-sided fight of one that was widely expected to be competitive.
On May 20 in the same city the undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney will defend his titles against the great Vasyl Lomachenko, in a fight between the division’s existing and previous number one, but having been impressed by the maturity of Davis’ performance, Salas – who led Jorge Linares to the WBC and WBA titles – believes “Tank” has already surpassed them.
“Right now, in the division he can fight, who is better?” Salas said to ProBox TV. “Haney? Lomachenko is getting older. Now Lomachenko has to prove it – how good he is – with Haney. Then you can talk about Lomachenko.
“[Davis has] impressed me for a long time. [Particularly] since he fought Rolando Romero – his timing’s amazing. He’s started to read each and every punch, and will always try to hurt you.
“He’s a slow starter. A very slow starter. But after he measures you, he takes over.”
Against Davis, Garcia appeared a fighter out of his depth, but Salas believes he remains a “great talent” and is capable of excelling at super lightweight as long as he proves dedicated.
On June 10 at New York’s Madison Square Garden Theatre, Josh Taylor defends his WBO title against Teofimo Lopez, when the winner will similarly be considered the world’s best 10st fighter and potentially lined up to fight Jack Catterall.
If not quite on a par with the lightweight division that, in 2023, surpasses any other, Garcia’s addition would potentially make the super lightweight picture more intriguing than at anytime since Floyd Mayweather, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto were its leading fighters.
“They have fights and opportunities for him,” said Salas.
“[Garcia] is a great, great talent. I knew him long before he was a superstar. But he’s a little big-headed [laughs]. To make a guy like him improve, for any trainer, is hard.
“Every human being has space to improve, daily, but if someone starts to feel [otherwise], then they cannot improve. It starts to bring your talent down.”
