Gervonta Davis admits he did not think the body he shot he landed on Ryan Garcia in the seventh round of their boxing super-fight in Las Vegas would end the contest.
The 28-year-old scored the 27th knockout of his career at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, taking him to 29-0.
After first knocking Garcia down to the canvas in the second round, Davis largely dominated the fight until the eventual stoppage.
The 28-year-old landed a body shot in the seventh and Garcia had first tried to continue before eventually taking a knee and failing to beat the count.
‘KingRy’ revealed he could not breathe after the shot but the manner of the stoppage has led to debate amongst both fans and former fighters.
Andy Ruiz and Tony Bellew were among the voices suggesting Garcia should have continued and Davis admits he expected him to.
“I didn’t think that body shot would end it, but I saw his facial expression and that’s what made me take it to him,” he said.
“It was a good shot, for sure. I thought he was going to get up but I like to play mind games, so when he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to tell him, ‘Get up!’.
“And he just shook his head, no.”