The focus of the final news conference before Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia fight on pay-per-view Saturday in Las Vegas was on knockouts. Naturally.
Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) are two of the biggest punchers pound-for-pound of their generation, with only six of their combined 51 opponents taking them the distance.
And in one of the most passionate exchanges at the news conference Thursday they both promised that nothing will change at T-Mobile Arena. They all but guaranteed that their 136-pound fight will end inside the distance.
And worse.
“I guess he’ll just have to wait and see when we’re in there why I’m so special,” Garcia said as he sat at the dais at the MGM Grand, looking Davis’ way. “He can’t see it but he’ll see it once we’re in there. You’re laughing but I’m dead serious.
“It’s going to happen and it’s going to be over quick, so quick.”
Davis dismissed Garcia’s prediction, which kicked off their back-and-forth in earnest.
Davis: “They keep talking about one punch. All you can talk about is that one punch.”
Garcia: “Speak louder. I can’t hear you.”
The moderator told Garcia what Davis said.
Garcia: “That’s all it’s going to take. I’ll just need a single shot, just one. I just need this one. Trust me. The left hook.”
Davis: “I just need one too.”
Garcia: “OK, we both got it.”
Davis: “C’mon, bro. I touch that jaw and I’m telling you you’re going to sleep.”
Garcia: “When I touch anything you’re going to sleep.”
Davis: “I’m telling you: When I touch your jaw, you’re going to sleep. I’ll probably break your jaw. Facts!”
Garcia: “I feel like I’ll break your jaw with the hook. … I just see you on the floor with a broken jaw. Seriously.”
Davis then warned Garcia to keep his loved ones away from the arena on Saturday because of what he believes they’ll see.
“Don’t bring your mother or your daughter,” he said. “Don’t bring ‘em.”
The fighters continued to exchange trash talk, often talking over one another in a spirited news conference that undoubtedly will have pleased the organizers.
For example, Garcia criticized what he sees as Davis’ low punch output and overrated defense. And he spoke about rumors that Davis had a spy in Garcia’s training camp. “He keeps saying [I] ain’t sh*t of a fighter, but he’s doing everything he can to figure it out. It makes no sense.”
Good point.
Meanwhile, Davis responded by reiterating that Garcia is not well versed in the fundamentals, implying that will haunt him in this fight. “All he relies on is his hook. That’s all. No defense … no footwork, no head movement, no nothing.”
They touched on other subjects during their exchange continued, which continued when they were face to face during the obligatory stare down. However, the overriding theme of this matchup had already been established earlier: the knockout.
It’s not whether there will be a stoppage, it seems. It’s who will be stopped.
