Ryan Garcia hailed the “great” Gervonta Davis after losing the first fight of his career to him in Las Vegas.
What could prove his defining fight and was expected to be competitive instead proved one-sided when he was dropped in the second round and stopped after a left hook to the body in the seventh.
Garcia, at 24 four years younger than Davis, was disadvantaged by the 136lbs catchweight and rehydration clause that prevented him from weighing more than 146lbs on Saturday morning when his previous struggles to make the lightweight limit had forced him to move up.
What could perhaps prove the most marketable fight of 2023 has potentially made Davis one of the world's leading figures at Garcia’s expense, and Garcia said: “‘Tank’ is a great fighter. I take my hat off to him. I know we talked a lot of trash leading into the fight, but he knows what it is.
“It’s all love at the end of the day. I was honoured to be in the ring with a great fighter and I respect him a lot. You know how the business goes. But I want to say to Tank, you’re a good man.
“He just caught me with a good shot. I don’t want to make any excuses in here. He caught me with a good shot and I just couldn’t recover and that’s it. He caught me with a good body shot, snuck under me and caught me good.”
Garcia had potentially appeared capable of returning to his feet at the T-Mobile Arena, but he said: “I couldn’t breathe. I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up.
“I think I should have pressured him a little harder near the ropes. I was giving him a little bit too much respect and I think that was my downfall. I think I gave him a little too much respect in the ring.”
