Ryan Garcia believes a hotly anticipated showdown with lightweight rival Gervonta Davis can take place this September.
Californian Garcia looked impressive taking out Hull’s Luke Campbell with a seventh-round body shot in January and immediately targeted Baltimore’s Davis, despite earning a shot against the WBC’s full champion Devin Haney with that breakthrough victory.
The rivals from America’s west and east coasts have subsequently jousted on social media and traded barbs during an impromptu Facetime conversation on Mike Tyson’s Hotboxin’ podcast. Yet Garcia believes a fight with WBA Regular champ Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) is more than mere talk and posturing, and will take place later this year.
“It’s gonna happen this year,” WBC interim champ Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) told ‘The Ak & Barak Show’ on DAZN. “I have a feeling it’s gonna happen in September, so that’ll give us just enough time to train. We have about eight months, enough time to build this up to levels that haven’t been seen before. So, I’m ready for this journey. I’m ready to try to make this fight happen.
“I don’t think he’s running. When I say those type of things, it’s just for like you get under his skin a little bit. I don’t know if he was running. Honestly, I just wanna make sure this fight gets made. You know, if he has any doubts, I’m gonna pressure him so much that, you know, they’re gonna have to look at him like, ‘Gervonta, come on, man. You’re letting this guy talk all he wants and you don’t wanna accept it’. That’s my approach on it. I know this fight needs to be made and so I will do whatever it takes to get it made. I told you I’m going all in. I’m going all in.”