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Tank Blows Up Garcia In Seventh
By William Trillo
Photos: German Villasenor
Inside of a packed T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, the most
highly anticipated fight of 2023, bitter rivals Gervonta
Davis (30-0, 28 KO’s) and Ryan Garcia (23-1, 20 KO’s)
finally stepped into to the ring for a shot at Super
Lightweight bragging rights. The electricity was in the
air as the buzz of some 20,842 fully charged fans filled
the stadium. It was a night some will never forget and a
night others won’t want to remember.
Round one started out as most fights do, a genuine
feeling out round for both men. With his longer reach
Ryan Garcia was touching Tank Davis more often, and for
that note, you would have to score that first round for
Garcia.
In round two Garcia really opened up and went pedal to
the medal on Tank. As soon as the bell rang Garcia was
all over Davis as he let the punches fly. But, throwing
caution to the wind against Tank Davis is more often
than naught the wrong move. In moments Garcia would find
out his tactical blunder would open him up. A strong
left hand from Davis landed on Garcia’s chin, and just
like that, Garcia was on the seat of his pants for the
second time in his career. The look on Garcia’s face
said it all, he had his hands full and he knew it.
Not liking the taste of the canvas Garcia was obviously
fighting scared in round three. Whatever aggression he
displayed in round two was gone. Pulling his head back
while throwing punches and jittery feet put a smirk on
Tank’s face, he knew he was getting under Garcia’s skin.
Picking his shots carefully Davis was in control of
round four. Garcia may have been throwing more shots,
but because he was punching scared, there was little or
snap in his hands at all.
It was more of the same in round five. It became very
apparent at this point Garcia was going to stay out of
harms way. Davis was methodical and kept up his slow but
steady pace.
Garcia’s corner must have lit a fire under Ryan in
between rounds because in round six he came out like
gangbusters, much the same as he did in round two. A
couple of long Garcia right hands capped off a round
that looked like maybe he was going to make the second
half of the fight a war.
As round seven opened up you could see the fighters were
going to pick up the pace. The two slugged it out on the
inside for a while and after a wild missing punch by
Garcia, Davis countered underneath with a hook to the
liver. Garcia took a few steps back looking to set his
feet, but then suddenly took a knee. Any seasoned boxing
afficionado will tell you those delayed reaction body
shots never end well. The ref immediately got in front
of Ryan and started counting. One, two, three, and so on
to TEN! Ryan Garcia was counted out and Tank Davis had
his hand raised in victory at the 1:44 mark of round
seven.
After weeks and months of speculation about who is the
best, it was Tank Davis who rose to the top proving that
he is one bad little dude. It’s doubtful anyone,
including Ryan himself can make any excuses. After
getting dropped in round two with one punch and then
stopped in round seven with another, Garcia was put in
his place, and that is standing behind Gervonta “Tank”
Davis.
For the record at the time of the stoppage judges
scorecards read 58-56, 59-56 and 59-55, all in favor of
Davis. My unofficial scoring had Tank up 58-55.
Speaking about the fight Tank said, “Me predicting the
7th round KO was me just trying to get in his head. I
really don’t know until I actually get in there with my
opponent, but once I got in there with him I felt like
skill-wise, it all matched. The first knockdown was just
him not knowing his placement and I knew that I was the
smaller guy, and my coach was telling me in camp that
he’s going to come up with his head up, so just shoot
over the top.
“I didn’t think that body shot would end it, but I saw
his facial expression and that’s what made me take it to
him. It was a good shot, for sure. I thought he was
going to get up but I like to play mind games, so when
he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to
tell him, ‘Get up!’. And he just shook his head, no.
On the loss Garcia said, “I couldn’t breathe. I was
going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up. I
think I should have pressured him a little harder near
the ropes. I was giving him a little bit too much
respect and I think that was my downfall. I think I gave
him a little too much respect in the ring.”
Putting David Morrell (9-0, 8 KO’s) and Yamaguchi Falcao
(24-2-1, 10 KO’s) in the same ring on the same night
should never happen. Yet, with Morrell’s WBA World Super
Middleweight strap on the line someone was willing to
take that risk and shove Falcao out there. The first
time Morrell touched Falcao’s chin his legs turned into
rubber. How Falcao remained standing as long as he did
is anyone’s guess. That being said, the fight only went
on for 2 minutes and 22 seconds. At that point Falcao
was flopping like a fish on the canvas and the ref was
waving this one off.
Take nothing away from Morrell who should go on to have
a fine career, but Falcao has never been a world class
talent…NEVER. His promoter knew that but put him in the
line of fire like that anyways. When people ask what’s
wrong with boxing, go ahead and point to this fight as a
prime example.
After the frightening KO Morrell said, “Much respect to
Yamaguchi. I’m glad he’s okay. He’s a good guy and a
good boxer. David Benavidez is next. Where is he? I want
to fight Benavidez, man. He’s next, 100 percent. I don’t
want any other guys at 168 pounds. Just Benavidez. I
respect Benavidez and his team, but inside the ring, I
don’t respect nothing.”
In a Super Middleweight rematch, Bektemir Melikuziev
(11-1, 9 KO’s) and Gabriel Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KO’s) in
a match that was more about revenge for Bektemir, who in
the last fight was knocked out in spectacular fashion.
In this fight, it looked more like a fighter who could
no longer pull the trigger, Rosado, facing a guy who was
afraid to pull the trigger, Bektemir.
Rosado was stunned twice, once in round five and once in
round nine, he never was close to going down. But,
unable to really let his hands go, Rosado was not in
this fight from the start. To say this fight was dull
would be putting it mildly. With the crowd booing from
the third round and on, this fight is proof that
sometimes it’s best not to make the rematch at all.
Officially final scores all in favor of Bektemir read
99-91 across the board.
On his revenge Bektemir said, “This was the fight that I
wanted. This is the fight that I felt like I made a
mistake in the first one, and I had this opportunity for
revenge on such a big card. It’s a pleasure for me. In
the first fight against Rosado, I underestimated my
opponent. This time, we put the work in during camp. We
went through everything. This time, the goal was to
showcase my skills, box and punish him as much as
possible too.”
Speaking on the loss a contrite Rosado remarked, “I
tried, but I was a step behind. Father Time, eighteen
years as a pro, but I was game. I walked to him, I boxed
him, I tried everything, but I was a step too slow. He's
fresh, he's young and I'm happy for him. I knocked him
out bad in the first fight and he made adjustments. I
don't make any excuses. I was ready. Now it's time to
wrap it up and give my knowledge to younger fighters
with management and training. I want to share my
experience with them, and maybe do some more
commentating.”
With the WBC Latino Middleweight title weighing in the
balance Elijah Garcia (15-0, 13 KO’s) started out slow
but gained his composure and took a close unanimous
decision over Kevin Salgado Zambrano (15-2-1, 10 KO’s).
Truthfully, the fight was far from thrilling but once he
zeroed in, Garcia showed why he is an undefeated fighter
on the rise.
On his victory Garcia said, “I was standing a little too
still trying to fight on the inside. Salgado is a tough
opponent. He was real tough, real strong and I just had
to move and box a little bit. Other than that, it was a
good, hard 10 rounds. I give my opponent 100 percent
props. It feels great to get this win on a big stage. I
feel like I'm getting better with each fight. I know I
have a long way to go, but I like where I'm at. I'm
hoping to get right back in the ring soon."
Fiodor Czerkaszyn (22-0, 14 KO’s) and Elias Espadas
(22-6, 15 KO’s) slugged it out in this rugged
Middleweight bout. The battle that was set for ten
rounds came to an abrupt end in round nine as a barrage
of punches by Czerkasyn staggered Espadas and forced the
ref to bring this one to its conclusion at the 2:07
point of round nine.
Vito Mielnicki Jr (15-1, 10 KO’s) had too much power for
Jose Sanchez Charles (20-4-1, 12 KO’s) in this fight for
the WBA Continental Americas Super Welterweight Title.
Mielnicki put Charles down twice in round 3 and then
with crushing dominance, Vito sent Charles down in round
four with a sharp right hand. The ref immediately waved
this one off bringing the fight to a sudden end at the
33 second mark of round four.
Lightweight Floyd Schofield (14-0, 11 KO’s) dominated
Jesus Valentin Leon (23-2-2, 19 KO’s) in this battle for
the WBA International title. Schofield dropped Leon in
round one and then went on to finish the job in round
two. This one was stopped at the 1:51 mark of the second
round.
Lorenzo Simpson (13-0, 7 KO’s) and Pachino Hill (8-2-1,
6 KO’s) battled over six grueling rounds in this
Middleweight slugfest. Neither man went down during the
fight but it wasn’t for a lack of punches landing. In
the end the judges saw Simpson as the unanimous decision
victor with scores all in his favor that read 60-54
twice and 59-55.
Super Welterweight Jalil Major Hackett (6-0, 5 KO’s)
cleaned the clock of Jason Phillips (3-4-2) in a
one-sided bout that was stopped at the 2:20 mark of
round two.
Opening the day were Bantamweights Cuttino Oliver (3-0,
2 KO) and Roberto Cantu Pena (3-3, 3 KO’s) in a
scheduled four round attraction. Down twice in round one
and beating across the ring in round two it was easy to
see Pena had no chance at all. At the 1:07 mark the ref
stopped the carnage giving Oliver the TKO victory.
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