Contractual details for the pay-per-view showdown Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia announced three months ago have been finalized.
Davis announced through his Twitter account Friday that they will fight April 22 at a venue to be determined in Las Vegas. Their teams have spent the past few weeks ironing out revisions to their contracts, but those issues have been resolved and one of the most marketable, high-profile fights in boxing is now officially on the schedule.
The targeted date for Davis-Garcia was April 15 for much of their negotiating process, but the two sides agreed this week to push their Showtime Pay-Per-View bout back one week, which will afford them more time to promote it. Two of boxing’s most popular, polarizing knockout artists are now set to square off eight weeks from Saturday night.
MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena are their primary options for a venue. Organizers of their fight have, however, explored the possibility of bringing it to the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.
Davis, 28, and Garcia, 24, will meet at a contracted catch weight of 136 pounds in their 12-round, non-title fight.
Baltimore’s Davis took on another opponent named Garcia after he and Ryan Garcia revealed November 17 that they had agreed to fight. Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) stated they would fight in 2023 in Las Vegas, but they didn’t specify the date or venue for their bout.
The original plan was for Davis and Garcia both to take interim bouts before they fought, but only Davis took that route. Davis defeated Hector Luis Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs, 3 NC) by ninth-round technical knockout in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions proposed a fight against Filipino southpaw Mercito Gesta (33-3-1, 17 KOs) for Ryan Garcia on January 28. Garcia ultimately decided to skip that bout and headed straight toward a much more dangerous fight versus Davis.
Ryan Garcia most recently knocked out Dominican southpaw Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs, 2 KOs) in the sixth round July 15 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Garcia floored Fortuna three times in their fight, once apiece in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.
Davis, meanwhile, pleaded guilty February 16 in a Baltimore courtroom to four motor vehicle charges that stemmed from a hit-and-run accident in November 2020. The WBA world lightweight champion won’t be sentenced until May 5, though, thus his punishment won’t interfere with Davis’ training regimen for his fight against Garcia.
–boxingscene.com
