WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo says that he is not picking a winner in Saturday’s clash between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia and can see ways for either man to emerge victorious.
Charlo, who is hoping to return to the ring later this year for the first time since 2021 after tending to various physical and mental health issues, sees Davis as the stronger, more experienced fighter but believes Garcia can cause problems, not necessarily with his vaunted left hook, but with his right hand.
Charlo does feel that Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) has some advantages in terms of his fundamentals. But the fact that the Baltimore man is the favorite, with most picking him to win by late knockout, means that many prognosticators will be left scratching their heads should Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) pull off the mild upset.
“[Davis] uses his feet well, and that's kind of rare from that southpaw stance, but he does it well and he's really technical,” Charlo explained. “You know, Tank does good off the ropes. And he does good bringing pressure. I haven't seen him get in any kind of trouble. I feel like Tank edges this fight, but if something [unexpected] happens in this fight, it’s going to be freakish and is going to be by Ryan, because if Tank knocks him out, we're gonna say ‘We told you so.’ And then if Ryan knocks him out, the world's not gonna understand what he did to do it. We're gonna have to dissect it.”
The smart money is on Garcia’s best weapon being his left hook, but Charlo argues that “since he keeps talking about the left hook so much, [Davis] is gonna get Ryan to not want to really throw that left hook. So, I feel like something else can happen. I feel like Ryan actually, if he shoots his right hand across the way he does his jab. Davis is in for trouble.
“It isn’t going to be a phone booth fight, but it is going to be a big fight. It's gonna be a lot of big shots thrown in that fight.”
