Gervonta “Tank” Davis doesn’t talk a whole lot, but when he does, he’s sure easy to goad into delivering headline-friendly quotes.
At the 27-year-old multi-division world champ’s recent media day at the 5th street gym in Miami, “Tank” delivered a verbal barrage aimed at rival Ryan Garcia. Davis and Garcia are tied to a big-ticket pay-per-view bout in April, but Davis will first be meeting Hector Luis Garcia on January 7.
“I think Ryan Garcia’s being lazy not taking a fight before our fight,” Davis told the assembled media, regarding Garcia’s decision to skip a planned interim fight before the April bout. “I don’t know. When he was coming up, he was in the gym and everything and now he’s got some money and a little bit of fame and he’s partying and stuff like that. It happens to the majority of us, but it’s up to him to tighten up before it’s too late.”
“I think it could be him juicing,” he further opined. “That’s why I was pushing for the VADA.
“It’s either that or he’s not trying to beat his body up to get down to 135 or 140 and just want to stick around his normal weight. Once it’s time to fight me, then drop down [in April]. It’s either that or him juicing.”
“He looks bigger than he actually was over the years,” Davis continued. “Maybe because he’s been drinking too. I know he’s been drinking a lot. Either that, or he’s been drinking for sure.
“He was slap drunk when he came up to the table,” said Davis recalled, referring to a recent incident where Garcia confronted him at a night club.
Davis told reporters that he hopes his willingness to take this risky fight against Ryan Garcia will encourage other big fights to happen.
“I am hoping that the Ryan Garcia fight will open up doors for everyone to make more big fights,” Tank asserted. “It also shows that I’m not ducking anybody.”
When asked whether a brutally impressive January 7 performance against Hector Luis Garcia might intimidate Ryan Garcia, there was some level of seriousness in the explosive power puncher’s tongue-in-cheek response.
“Yeah, probably. That’s why I don’t know. Hopefully, he don’t come and see it in person. Maybe watch it on TV or something like that,” Davis joked.
There’s been a lot of speculation as to why Ryan Garcia decided to skip his planned late-January interim bout with Mercito Gesta. Tank Davis touched on nearly all the theories during his post-workout media day.
Garcia asserts that his reason in ditching the Gesta fight is simple– he’s ready for Gervonta Davis now and doesn’t need or want a tuneup bout.
“I had time to think about if I really wanted to do this,” Garcia recently told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “Tank has always wanted to do things that are going to make him as comfortable as he could be and as ready as he could be going into a fight. I didn’t need to tune up and I don’t need to tune up. I want to put on the biggest fights for the fans. So I’ve decided that I’m done f*****g around. I’m ready to go right after Tank.”
“I’m just used to [long layoffs] at this point,” added Garcia. “A lot of my fights have come off layoffs. [Luke] Campbell [in January 2021], that came after about a year off. As long as I’m staying in the gym right now, I’m good. I already feel in amazing shape. So I pretty much am now just focused on preparing my body and my mind as best as I can for that fight with Tank.
“This is the best thing for me. For my mindset, going into a huge fight…I want to really focus on the fight that matters to me and that’s Tank.”
