Tony Bellew believes Ryan Garcia could have shown more will in his fight with Gervonta Davis.
The pair put undefeated records on the line in Las Vegas this weekend, with Davis using his skillset to capitalise on an over eager Garcia and score a knockdown in the second round.
Garcia was visibly tentative thereafter, and it wasn’t really until the seventh that he revisited the same levels of output. Again, it was to his detriment. A crisp body shot put him down and kept him on his knee as the referee counted him out.
Fans, pundits and fighters immediately gave their opinion on the stoppage, with Bellew, a former world cruiserweight world champion, saying that Garcia should have forced himself up no matter the pain.
“Spewed it! Yes they really hurt but you’ve gotta rise! Do it once and you’ll do it again!
“The attributes Garcia has are amazing! He’s the quickest and one of the biggest fighters in the division yet he lets people get to him! If he uses them gifts he has properly then I swear he’d be almost impossible to beat! Amir had similar attributes! Stay away and box!”
Garcia made it clear in the aftermath that he would be moving up to 140lb to challenge the super lightweights of the world – something that was his intention before this catchweight contest came around.
Although claiming Garcia had it in him to get up, he went on to hail ‘Tank’s power as the best in his weight classes for 20 years.
“Tank Davis is the biggest puncher the lighter weight divisions have seen since Naseem Hamelin imho! Tank was given good advice in the corner and that played a big factor! The fights that can be made for Tank are mouthwatering! Shakur, Loma, Haney etc etc!”
Davis certainly has an exciting future ahead, with fans hoping that his team make doing everything to face the best a trend rather than an anomaly.