Ryan Garcia says Gervonta Davis’ lackluster performance against Lamont Roach last Saturday night was the result of his planning on retirement soon and not mentally focused on how hard he needed to be against a motivated fighter.
WBA lightweight champion Tank escaped with a 12-round majority draw, but many fans felt he lost. Ryan feels that it should have been scored a knockdown in the ninth round when Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) took a knee. He blamed it on hair grease getting into his eyes.
One Foot Out
Garcia says if Gervonta gets away with taking a knee without a point being taken away, other fighters will do the same and blame it on some physical issue. This will “kill the momentum” of their opponent, and they can get back into the fight.
Ryan doesn’t buy the technical issue that supposedly prevented the New York Commission from reviewing the ninth-round no-call when Tank took a knee. He points out that the replay was shown in the arena.
“That’s what happens when you have one foot in one foot out [into retirement] before stepping into the ring,” said Ryan Garcia to iFL TV about last Saturday night’s Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach fight in Brooklyn. “To get to that third or fourth gear that you’re going to need, especially when you’re that guy, that other guy is going to want it ten times more.”
Tank had said going into the fight that he’ll be retiring in three fights. He specifically chose Roach rather than someone from the 135-lb division. Fans saw that as Davis on his retirement tour, choosing beatable opposition to ensure he gets out of the game without losing.
“So, when one foot is out, you’re going to get in the ring and you’re going to have that moment where you know you’re going to have to step it up and it just won’t come. I think that’s what happened,” continued Garcia about why Tank struggled against Roach.
Davis would have had problems with Roach, even if he weren’t planning on retiring. He only fights in spurts, and a guy that is made to order for Roach, who is smart. He’d studied Davis’ fights going in, and understood that he’s someone that he could outwork. That’s what he did.
Knockdown Denial
“100% that should have been ruled a knockdown [in the ninth]. I like Tank Davis, but these are the rules. You can’t take a knee like that. He knew that. He says he didn’t, but he did. On top of that, there’s no way in hell they had technical issues. They showed the replay in the arena. There’s no way they had technical issues.
“I think that they need to do something about it because it gives incentive to other boxers, ‘I’m going to take a knee whenever something is bothering me. I hurt my hand a little bit. I hurt my elbow a little bit.’ Make some s*** up and go back to fighting. When you kill the other guy’s momentum, go back and fight. They need to do something or you’ll have a lot of boxers do some weird s***,” said Garcia.
Last Updated on 03/04/2025
