Gervonta Davis was seen being escorted away from the Super Bowl in a wheelchair just two months out from his almost-signed fight with Ryan Garcia.
The pair are set to lock horns on April 15 in Las Vegas at a catchweight of 136lb, marking a welcome change in the sport that often doesn’t see the best fight the best while they’re in their prime and undefeated.
Despite some recent choppy waters in the negotiations, it was still very much the goal for the two superstars to face off. Everything was solvable, said Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya. What isn’t, though, is an injury – and it seems ‘Tank’ has just that.
The world champion from Baltimore was seen being wheeled away from Super Bowl LVII at University of Phoenix Stadium. Davis speaks briefly to the cameraman as his handlers try to avoid him being filmed.
“S**t happen all the time. S**t be happening. But I’m all right.”
The footage is yet another worrying development for the Garcia fight. The latest reports from behind the scenes say the teams are going back and forth on rematch clauses and broadcasting rights for a potential second fight.
None of that will matter should this injury – on Davis’ ankle as per TMZ – be severe enough to stop the first one from going ahead. Despite ‘Tank’s words to the contrary, it doesn’t look good just two months out from the pencilled in date.
Garcia saw the footage and responded online, saying: ‘stay focused champ we got a fight coming up.’
Stay focused champ we got a fight coming up https://t.co/HXE3TIIgff
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) February 13, 2023
He skipped a tune-up fight in January to proceed to the bout injury-free. Davis went ahead with his, beating Hector Luis Garcia on January 7 and coming out unscathed.
Unfortunately, those who doubted the match-up seem to be on their way to being proven right – the painful irony being that they thought it would fall through in the negotiations, not from an injury outside of a fight or training camp.