Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia LIVE: Latest fight updates and result
Re-live updates from the 136lbs catchweight fight in Las Vegas
Gervonta Davis settled his feud with Ryan Garcia by stopping his fellow American in the seventh round on Saturday.
Davis, 28, dropped Garcia to a knee with a left hook to the body, a shot that left the 24-year-old wincing in pain and unable to beat the referee’s count.
Davis had already dropped Garcia in the second round with a left hook to the head, and “Tank” began to build a healthy lead as the 136lbs catchweight bout neared its midway point. Garcia briefly rallied, but he was caught seemingly out of nowhere in Round 7, when Davis dug a left hook into the midriff of “King Ryan”.
In a delayed reaction, Garcia dropped to a knee and was then unable to beat the referee’s count, marking his first defeat as a professional. Meanwhile, WBA lightweight champion Davis stayed unbeaten with the victory.
Re-live updates from Garcia vs Davis below. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
Morell Jr vs Falcao – Round 1
Falcao gets out on the front foot, while fellow southpaw Morrell looks for counter punches.
Falcao is loading up on hooks and overhands early on, but Morrell responds in kind. Neither is wasting time.
Morrell times a jab perfectly and follows up with slick uppercuts! Falcao is already out on his feet! He’s wobbling all over the place, and the referee gives him a count, which Falcao beats...
Morrell backs him up and pours on hooks, though...
A perfect right hand drops Falcao, who faceplants onto the canvas! It’s all over.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
This one is for Morrell Jr’s WBA super-middleweight title.
The Cuban is 8-0 (7 KOs) as a pro, while Brazilian Falcao is 24-1-1 (10 KOs).
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
David Morrell Jr vs Yamaguchi Falcao is about to get under way on the undercard. Live updates are incoming.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
Forget Fury and Usyk, Spence and Crawford, Joshua and Wilder, and Canelo and Bivol; focus on two intriguing fighters who have swapped paperwork for punching bags, and who will risk their records and reputations in a fight with an enthralling story that is approaching a dramatic climax.
Within the adorned walls of a sold-out T-Mobile Arena, the fight of the year is set to take place tonight.
It’s Davis vs Garcia, and it’s just one hour away.
Forget Fury vs Usyk – Garcia vs Davis is the biggest fight of the year
Forget Fury vs Usyk, Joshua vs Wilder, Spence vs Crawford – focus on two fighters who are willing to risk it all
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
British promoter Eddie Hearn has predicted that Showtime, which will broadcast the event on pay-per-view in the US, will achieve between 700,000 and 800,000 buys; Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya expects upwards of 2 million. The latter figure feels optimistic, but even Hearn’s more cautious prediction would mark a success in the streaming age. The first episode of Showtime’s All Access series on the fight was viewed 3.2 million times on YouTube, and the follow-up received 2.3 million views, an indication of interest in the bout.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
When Davis arrived two hours late for the fight’s first press conference in March, he attributed his tardiness to “just traffic” and “not [being] prepared” – “things like that”.
Garcia, for his part, said: “It kind of shows him being unprofessional and kind of continues a pattern of his character and his integrity as a person and as a professional. That’s just how it is.” When asked whether he thought Davis was late due to distraction caused by his legal issues, Garcia added: “I don’t want to come off cross, like speaking down on him, but the truth is: Yeah, that’s probably why.”
Those matters are cause for concern that Davis’s career might not see the superstardom that it could. The same status is achievable for Garcia, and while this fight is one for the boxing purists, it has untapped potential in the sporting mainstream.
Gervonta Davis arrives two hours late for Ryan Garcia press conference
The pair are set to square off in a long-awaited fight in Las Vegas on 22 April
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
Garcia returned last year with two wins, most recently a sixth-round stoppage of Javier Fortuna in July. Garcia put down his opponent with a stun-gun combination that the Dominican never saw, one that left Fortuna kneeling on the mat, spitting out his mouthguard and welcoming the referee’s decision to call off the contest. Meanwhile, Davis’ last outing came in January, when he stalked Hector Luis Garcia around the ring for nine rounds and beat his unbeaten challenger into submission.
It was the wrong Garcia, fans crowed, and their frustration only increased when Davis’s legal issues – far from the first in his career – threatened to thwart a clash with “King Ryan” once more. In February, Davis pleaded guilty to four counts related to a hit-and-run incident from November 2020, which left four people injured including a pregnant woman. Davis is due for sentencing on 5 May, two weeks after his 136lbs catchweight bout with Garcia, which will go ahead after all.
This all comes four months after Davis was jailed on a misdemeanour domestic violence charge of battery causing bodily harm, to which he pleaded not guilty. Davis had allegedly struck the mother of his one-year-old daughter, though the alleged victim later asked the court to dismiss charges.
Boxer Gervonta Davis pleads guilty after hit-and-run crash that injured four people
The incident took place in November 2020, while Davis was jailed on a domestic violence charge in December 2022
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
In the other corner is Garcia, approaching his prime at 24 years old and unbeaten at 23-0 (19 KOs). Having built a following by showing off his stupefying hand speed and boyish good looks on social media, the Californian was once deemed an “Instagram fighter” and little more. That was until he rose from the canvas in 2021 to send Luke Campbell into retirement with a blistering body shot, becoming the first fighter to knock out a man whose only other losses came against Vasyl Lomachenko, Jorge Linares and Yvan Mendy.
That watershed victory saw Garcia claim the WBC interim lightweight title, though he would soon vacate the belt during a brief hiatus from boxing, one brought on by struggles with his mental health.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
In one corner is WBA lightweight champion Davis, in his prime at 28 years old and unbeaten as a professional at 28-0. Of those unanswered wins, 26 have come by knockout. “Tank” is one of the more justified nicknames in boxing, clearly, and once the three-weight world champion gets rolling, he does not halt.
The southpaw’s armoury is a frightening one, and he has used it to neutralise each enemy that he has encountered. When Davis’s left hand curls into a hook, the outcome is inevitable – at least it has been so far. Furthermore, the American’s onslaughts are seemingly motored by malice, which only serves to heighten Davis’s intimidating essence, one first perceived by Floyd Mayweather years ago.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis LIVE
The biggest fight of the year is happening tonight, and it is happening with or without you.
In a year that felt destined to be defined by a first undisputed heavyweight champion in 20 years, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk disappointed fans by failing to agree terms over a huge title fight. At welterweight, Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford’s collision course might have been carved up for good. Even Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, who have no titles or unbeaten records to worry about, continue to flirt but without setting up a date. Elsewhere, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is yet to pursue a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, though such a bout feels devoid of the pulling power that one might expect.
So, deprived of these showdowns, what is a boxing fan to do? Well: Turn to Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, two fighters who are actually willing to risk it all.
Fight preview:
Forget Fury vs Usyk – Garcia vs Davis is the biggest fight of the year
Forget Fury vs Usyk, Joshua vs Wilder, Spence vs Crawford – focus on two fighters who are willing to risk it all
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