/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72184922/0010_DAVIS_GARCI_LA_PRESS.0.jpg)
Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia are just six days away from squaring off in what will be one of the biggest fights — if not the biggest fight — of 2023, and a lot of the focus has been on the “event” aspects, but this also shapes up to be a potentially great fight, too.
The 28-year-old Davis (28-0, 26 KO) and 24-year-old Garcia (23-0, 19 KO) bring unique, unusually large fan bases to their fights, and combining those two audiences with the standard boxing crowd should make for great business numbers for all the networks and promoters involved, without question. We’ve talked that up plenty. Everyone gets it.
But the fight features two young, star fighters with a lot of pride on the line, too. Davis has won legitimate world titles at 130, and also secondary world titles at 135 and 140. Garcia has yet to win a world title of any legitimacy level — and there isn’t one on the line in this fight, either — but his talent, like Davis’, is clear.
Both have terrific power. Both have hand speed. Both swear there are levels they haven’t yet shown us in the ring, too. Davis has the experience edge, particularly under anything close to this level of spotlight, as he’s headlined several pay-per-views already. But Garcia has significant natural size advantages, including four-and-a-half inches as generally listed, and is simply a naturally bigger man.
They’ll fight at a 136 lb catchweight, and there will be a re-hydration clause for the day of the fight, too. These things figure, on paper, to be more of an issue for Garcia, who has had his last two fights at 140 lbs, but then Garcia’s not the guy who’s missed weight before or had his between-fights dedication to conditioning questioned, either.
As of this writing, DraftKings are listing Davis as the favorite at -270, with Garcia the +205 underdog.
There’s a lot to consider. We’ll have our staff predictions on Friday, but right now it’s your call. By now you’ve probably made up your mind. Who ya got?
So throw down your vote in the poll, and tell us who you picked and why down in the comments section!
Poll
Who wins, Gervonta Davis or Ryan Garcia?
This poll is closed
-
58%
Gervonta Davis
-
41%
Ryan Garcia
Loading comments...