Hector Luis Garcia didn’t actually imagine he would get the chance to problem Gervonta Davis on January 7 till Friday morning.
That’s when the WBA 130-pound champion signed his contract to face Davis in a Showtime Pay-Per-View primary occasion that night time at Capital One Area in Washington, D.C. As appreciative because the undefeated Dominican southpaw is to have secured this life-changing likelihood, Garcia can not assist however really feel that Davis has underestimated him.
Davis did, in any case, announce a higher-profile struggle towards one other unbeaten Garcia the day earlier than the Baltimore-bred knockout artist revealed that he’ll first face Hector Luis Garcia.
“Tank thinks that is a simple struggle, however I’m grateful for the chance,” Garcia instructed BoxingScene.com. “He has already bought the opposite struggle lined up [with Ryan Garcia]. It’s the identical as with [Chris] Colbert. He’s overlooking me.”
The 28-year-old Davis and 24-year-old Ryan Garcia collectively introduced Thursday that these rivals reached an settlement for a long-discussed pay-per-view showdown, some of the marketable bouts in boxing.
They plan to sq. off on an undetermined date someday within the spring in Las Vegas, however Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) should first defeat Hector Luis Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs, 3 NC) in a 12-round bout that can mark Garcia’s debut on the light-weight restrict of 135 kilos. Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, additionally might want to win his personal interim bout towards an undetermined opponent, which doubtless will happen someday later in January, to make sure that he and Davis lastly struggle.
“I’m wanting ahead to this struggle,” Hector Luis Garcia stated. “I do know that Tank is on the high. I’ve been actually motivated, nevertheless it does give me a bit of additional motivation as a result of I wanna present that I’m the highest canine. For positive, I wanna present that I’m the higher Garcia. I’m the one which’s gonna be on high.”
The beforehand unbeaten Colbert was a 22-1 favourite February 26, however the then-unknown Garcia dominated him on his strategy to successful a 12-round unanimous resolution of their WBA elimination match at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Garcia dropped Brooklyn’s Colbert (16-1, 6 KOs) within the seventh spherical and gained by huge distances of 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109 to solidify his shot on the WBA tremendous featherweight title.
Colbert was initially scheduled to problem Gutierrez for the WBA 130-pound championship that night time, however Gutierrez contracted COVID-19 whereas coaching. Garcia stepped in for Gutierrez on lower than three weeks’ discover.
The 31-year-old Garcia beat Venezuela’s Gutierrez by comparable scores (118-110, 117-111, 117-111) to win his WBA belt on August 20 at Seminole Onerous Rock Resort & On line casino in Hollywood, Florida. Although the challenger, Garcia was a 3-1 favourite towards Gutierrez (26-4-1, 20 KOs) primarily based on his spectacular victory over Colbert.
Whereas assured, Garcia acknowledges that he’s seen as an underdog once more towards a strong southpaw who is often thought of some of the proficient boxers within the sport.
“Tank, for positive, is a step above Colbert,” Garcia stated. “That’s why I’m much more motivated to beat him.”
Keith Idec is a senior author/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He may be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.