LAS VEGAS – Frank Martin expects Gervonta Davis to knock out Ryan Garcia if these polarizing rivals struggle subsequent yr.
If, for some motive, Garcia and Davis don’t struggle, Martin would welcome alternatives to face both Davis or Garcia. Martin was requested particularly about boxing Garcia following his dominant victory over Michel Rivera on Saturday evening at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
“We might go,” Martin instructed a small group of reporters. “We might go. We might go. You realize, I simply fought the title eliminator or no matter for the WBA, so we might go.”
Garcia is taller and longer, however the left-handed Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) has seen that the younger knockout artist’s pace dissipates after the primary few rounds of his fights.
“It’ll be a great struggle,” Martin stated. “It’ll be an explosive struggle. Two quick fighters, two sturdy fighters, two explosive fighters. … It’ll be an explosive struggle.”
Martin, who will flip 28 subsequent month, and Garcia, 24, have sparred prior to now, but Martin doesn’t suppose these classes would give both of them a lot of a bonus in the event that they met in a bout that counts.
“Nah, , that was years in the past,” Martin stated. “You realize what I imply? So, he’ll come to the ring with one thing completely different and, , vice versa – I’ll do the identical.”
Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) was alleged to face Filipino southpaw Mercito Gesta (33-3-3, 17 KOs) on January 28 in preparation for his struggle versus Davis. The Victorville, California native determined, nonetheless, that he’ll go straight to a high-profile pay-per-view showdown with Davis if the highly effective southpaw defeats Hector Luis Garcia of their 12-round, 135-pound title struggle January 7 at Capital One Area in Washington, D.C.
Baltimore’s Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) and the Dominican Republic’s Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs, 3 NC) will headline a Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast that evening. They’ll struggle for Davis’ secondary WBA light-weight title.
Martin, in the meantime, moved nearer towards a WBA light-weight title shot of his personal by beating the beforehand undefeated Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs). The Detroit native dropped the Dominican Republic’s Rivera within the seventh spherical and gained by massive margins on all three scorecards (120-107, 118-109, 117-110) of their “Showtime Championship Boxing” principal occasion.
Although a struggle with Ryan Garcia appears unlikely to occur subsequent yr, Martin hopes his efficiency Saturday evening established him as an elite light-weight keen to struggle anybody in his division.
“I’m prepared for all of ‘em,” Martin stated. “So hopefully they, , see what’s up now.”
Keith Idec is a senior author/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He could be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.