Ryan Garcia planning January fight ahead of Gervonta Davis bout in April

Ryan Garcia and Gervonta “Tank” Davis have a deal in place for a fight next spring, supposedly on April 15 in Las Vegas, and Davis is also set to return in a Jan. 7 Showtime PPV main event against Hector Luis Garcia.

Garcia now says he’ll also fight in January to stay sharp for what will be the biggest fight of either man’s career by some distance:

Davis (27-0, 25 KO) will face 130 lb titleholder Hector Luis Garcia (16-0, 10 KO) in a 135 lb matchup in Washington, DC.

Ryan Garcia, of course, does not have an opponent set yet, but his fight likely will be at a catchweight between 135 and 140; he intends to campaign at 140 going forward, but is doing a 136 lb catchweight to fight Davis.

It would be foolish to expect the world of a Garcia fight for January, as he’ll likely look to tune up, keep active, make sure he doesn’t go into April with any rust. On the Davis side of this, Hector Luis Garcia is a good fighter, but Davis will be a heavy favorite, and that’s the sort of thing that should be expected for Ryan, too.

In theory, Golden Boy could match him with William Zepeda, but that might be too much of an in-house sacrifice of Zepeda for the promoter. Zepeda is coming off of a good, dominant win over JoJo Diaz, and is a rising contender at 135 who could, potentially, become a reliable headliner for the company, and they need those badly.

If we’re throwing darts at the board, maybe veteran Mercito Gesta would fit the bill.