Carl Frampton has heaped praise on an American fighter, saying he’s not seen anyone as explosive since Mike Tyson.
Frampton was part of the BT Sport commentary team for the Joe Joyce-Zhilei Zhang card in London when the he was asked about the upcoming super-fight between Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis.
The former two-weight world champion was full of praise for ‘Tank’s style, and made the flattering comparison to ‘Iron’ Mike.
“Gervonta Davis is a favourite in the fight – he’s the most explosive fighter probably that I’ve ever seen since Mike Tyson in terms of his and how he jumps in.
He’s probably shorter than me believe it or not and there’s not many shorter than me, but I think Davis might just be slightly shorter than me – he’s the favourite.”
Although Frampton acknowledges Tank is the favourite, he feels Garcia might pull off the upset if he can stick to a strict game plan.
“If Garcia can stick to a rigid game plan, which I imagine will be to punch long and fast, stay in the middle distance and when Tank gets close you spoil him, you hold him then I think he may just win a points decision.”
Garcia and Davis will go head to head at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 22 to decide who becomes the ‘face of boxing’.
The pair will fight it out at a catchweight of 136lbs with a strict 10lb rehydration clause in place for Garcia, meaning the Californian can’t weight more than 146lbs on the day of the fight.
In a rarity for boxing, the event is a cross-broadcaster collaboration, being shown in the US on both Showtime and DAZN PPV, while UK fans can catch the action as part of their standard DAZN subscription.