Ahead of his bout with Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis has named his all-time top three fighters.
Looking to carve his own name in boxing history, ‘Tank’ has taken inspiration – and indeed direction – from some of the best to ever do it.
Ahead of the toughest test of his career in the lightning quick Garcia, Davis named his boxing heroes in an interview with PBC.
Floyd Mayweather
Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather is a modern-day great, and is credited with changing the sport in many ways. Inside the ropes, he’s often hailed as having the greatest defence fans have witnessed, and his landed punches against how many he takes ratio is perhaps the most impressive of all time.
Outside of the ropes, Mayweather changed the game in terms of star power – surpassing pay-per-view records set by previous boxing giants. He hung up the gloves with a perfect record of 50-0.
There’s a personal connection there, too. ‘Tank’ signed with Mayweather Promotions in 2015 and has since grown to be one of the sport’s brightest stars, both in terms of talent and pulling power.
The pair’s relationship has turned rocky of late, with the young boxer from Baltimore announcing a split in December of 2022 after some since-deleted tweets criticising his mentor.
Things seemed to have smoothed out, though, with CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, being involved in the Garcia fight hype.
Sugar Ray Leonard
Five-weight world champion, Sugar Ray Leonard, is a quarter of the ‘Four Kings’, alongside Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran.
With 36 wins and just three losses – one of which was to ‘Hands of Stone’ Duran, which he avenged in a rematch and made it 2-1 in a trilogy years later – he had stellar footwork and spiteful counters.
He was a punishing fighter who enjoyed plenty of late stoppages, and ultimately hung up the gloves in 1997 after twenty years as a pro with two notable hiatuses in there.
After a Gold Medal at the 1976 Olympics and a career that saw him become the first man to earn over $100 million from the sport, he’s at the top of many greatest ever lists, including ‘Tank’s and Ryan Garcia’s.
Pernell Whitaker
The late, great Pernell Whitaker also won Gold at the Olympic Games, albeit eight years on from Leonard. The man from Virginia claimed world titles from lightweight to super welterweight and both divisions in between.
As with Mayweather, he’s known for incredible defence, and, after a later-avenged defeat to Jose Luis RamÃrez in his 16th bout, went unbeaten in 26 fights over nine years.
A loss to Oscar De La Hoya – Ryan Garcia’s promoter – in 1997 marked the beginning of the end for his career. It was followed by a no contest due to a failed drugs test and two more defeats.
Despite that final chapter, he’s still floating around the top ten best fighters to ever lace up, and joined the two above in the Hall of Fame in 2006.