Ryan “King Ry” Garcia is taking a monumental step up in competition when he takes on Gervonta “Tank” Davis this Saturday, April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, in a Premier Boxing Champions/Golden Boy event broadcast by Showtime PPV. In a recent media day interview, he insisted he’s at his very best and more than ready to become the new face of boxing.
“This fight means a lot to me,” the 24-year-old Garcia told the assembled media. “It means everything. It’s a moment that I’ve been envisioning for so long now. It’s the only thing I’ve wanted for so long, to defeat Gervonta Davis and to destroy him. To end everything that he’s ever worked for, because I know he’s trying to do that for me. I’m going to take him out. He’s done. It’s nap time for Gervonta.
“I’m just going to be focused in the ring, no matter if it’s the first round, second round, third round. Any of the rounds, he can go to sleep. He’s going to have to be careful. That’s what I have to tell him. Be careful. I don’t think he is, and he’s going to walk into one. Or I’m just going to go get him. Either way, I’m going to beat him.
“This is a fight to show everybody that I’m great. I’m not daring to be great. I know I’m great. I know when I step in the ring, he’s going to feel something he’s never felt before. I’m going to conquer him. Everything he tries to do I’ll have an answer for him. Gervonta Davis is not going to beat me. I promise you.”
Garcia would also emphasize the importance of this fight and why his place in this matchup matters.
“This is a huge fight for boxing,” Garcia said. “It can really change the trajectory of the sport and inspire young fighters to get it on right now. People are going to love you. They’re going to see that you went out there and you fought the best and you gave it your all.
“Even if you win or even if you lose, you showed them what a champion is in life. You just get right back up and you don’t let negative people that won’t even dare to do anything keep you down because you know where you’re going in life. To me, this is important to everybody that it takes courage to go after something that nobody believed you could do. That’s why I’m standing here today. To make everybody realize that if you’re in there and chase your dream like you’ve never chased anything before, and you’ll see something special happen.
“I feel like people have lost touch with what boxing truly is about. People used to realize that you see how a champion reacts after he gets hit. That’s how you determine what a champion is. People have lost touch with that. It used to be a proud moment where you showed that you can still stay focused in the fight. You can still get back to controlling it and you can still knock somebody out after you get dropped. That should have been the testimony of how much of a champion I truly am in my heart.”
As for his preparation, the young fighters claims it’s been smooth sailing with trainer Joe Goossen.
“This is going to be my third fight with Joe Goossen and having a guy with so much experience and understanding of the game, I just love being around him. He’s a very intelligent man. I love being around a person that you can just talk to about life in different ways and come to better understandings of both life and boxing. It’s great to have a person like that around me.”
Garcia would then close things out by issuing one last warning to his opponent this Saturday.
“Gervonta says he’s going to take me into deep waters. Guess what, I know how to swim. It’s nothing special. He needs to come up with something better than that. Think a little harder.
“I hope Gervonta has been getting good sleep. If not, he’ll get some good sleep April 22.”
