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Ryan Garcia has all the tools and the style to beat Gervonta 'Tank' Davis, according to Bernard Hopkins

Alan Dawson   

Ryan Garcia has all the tools and the style to beat Gervonta 'Tank' Davis, according to Bernard Hopkins
Sports3 min read
  • Ryan Garcia vs. Gervonta Davis is one of the best bouts boxing can make.
  • It is one that features evenly-talented fighters, Garcia's representative Bernard Hopkins said.
  • But, he added: "Garcia has all the tools and the style to beat 'Tank' Davis."

Ryan Garcia has all the tools, as well as the style, to defeat Gervonta "Tank" Davis, according to Golden Boy Promotions partner Bernard Hopkins.

"When it comes to Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia, that fight to me goes back to names like Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran," Hopkins told Insider.

"I'm not saying these guys are [similar]. But in their era, and then in this era, you have a match-up that has merit because of the things they've done leading up to this rivalry that has two guys who are evenly-talented."

With the backing of Mayweather Promotions, Tank has transcended the sport to become the favorite boxer for musicians and athletes who attended packed, pre-COVID fights in Baltimore and Atlanta. Davis even counts LeBron James and Lil Baby as fans.

Garcia, meanwhile, is a Gen-Z superstar who has harnessed an explosive popularity on Tik Tok, YouTube, and Instagram.

The Golden Boy fighter enjoyed the biggest win of his fledgling boxing career when he climbed off the canvas to knock Luke Campbell out in January, elevating his appeal even further.

Looking back at that win, Hopkins told Insider he was impressed with what he saw, and that after the way he won that fight, no one can question Garcia's heart again.

"I was there witnessing an event and also a knockdown that most people wouldn't have gotten up from," Hopkins told us.

"Not only did he get up but he also got up with a purpose, and that was to get this man out and to be professional about it. Ryan Garcia became a man that night," Hopkins said.

"He overcame a knockdown that could have been a knockout. It could have showed his heart, or lack thereof.

"But those questions are not going to be brought up anytime soon, or ever, after he showed so many things that night to all his future opponents who were watching."

The Garcia vs. Tank rivalry is one of the best in boxing right now

Alongside his partner Oscar de la Hoya, Hopkins has helped develop the 22-year-old into an athlete on the cusp of booking boxing's biggest bouts on the grandest stages.

Garcia is operating at lightweight, which is one of the most competitive divisions, and he is building a natural rivalry with Floyd Mayweather's protege Davis, a two-weight world champion.

"Ryan put everybody on notice that he is the real deal and not just a pretty face with 8 million followers, and 90% of them are females," Hopkins said.

"Every era has its stars who bring other casual boxing fans to our sport and enjoy and love it and never leave again. That's what I like about guys like Ryan and Tank Davis," he said.

Hopkins told us that Garcia and Davis are similar because they're so marketable and "a talent agency's dream."

Aa 135-pound bout between the pair is a matter of when not if, he said, adding that when they do collide, it would be hard to pick a winner. "I don't give any of them an advantage, and I'm the promoter of Ryan Garcia.

"I'd be a fool if I tell you that Tank Davis has no chance when he fights Ryan Garcia. But I also know Ryan Garcia has all the tools and the style to beat Tank Davis.

"You will see the best athletes in their time representing themselves like the great ones from Mexican-American and African-American boxing history, coming together to fight in the ring, mano a mano, to be the best."

Garcia vs. Tank brings together 4 of boxing's big-name execs

Garcia vs. Davis pits two of the fight game's most exciting young fighters against each other, while placing Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions on the same stage.

The brand power and name value behind-the-scenes includes de la Hoya and Hopkins in one corner, and Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe in another.

If the promotion became a battle of talkers, Hopkins was quick to say that he would be the one who would have his arm raised first.

"Can any of those guys out-talk me? Out-wit me?" Hopkins joked. "I respect all of them. I would say I'm friends with all those guys.

"But they've got to be just as happy and just as eager to do something - to make the best man win, and to make this fight."

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