Gervonta Davis is working with officials behind the scenes to make his purse bet with Ryan Garcia a legitimate part of the pair's pay-per-view showdown this weekend.
The lightweight duo are competing in one of the sport's biggest fights on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and this week offered to bet their fight purses during a stream with Twitch star Kai Cenat. These sorts of wagers are commonplace during fight promotion, but almost never lead to an actual 'winner-take-all' situation for a number of reasons.
However, Davis has confirmed he is keen to speak with officials involved in the event to make sure that Garcia has to live up to the wager. The pair made their 'grand arrivals' at the MGM Grand yesterday ahead of both putting their undefeated records on the line this weekend.
“This means everything,” Davis said during a brief address at the arrivals. “We are putting everything on the line. Coming from where I come from, this is big. I witnessed Floyd Mayweather, and all the top guys fight in Las Vegas. This is the top-level. I’m ready. My first goal was to win a belt. I never thought I would be in Las Vegas having a big fight. This is a dream come true."
And asked about the bet, Garcia insisted that he was pushing for the pair to make it legitimate. "I'm trying to make it [the purse bet] official," he added when asked by host Ray Flores. "We've been calling his advisor [Guadalupe Valencia] and things like that so hopefully we can get it done."
Garcia took a more measured approach to the discussion, opting to mock his rival instead of pushing the issue, although he did insist that he was serious about getting the purse. "I just hope that he's not talking about the purse he wears," Garcia responded. "That's all I'm worried about, we're not talking about that purse you're wearing we're talking about the whole fight purse. Bring it on."
Who do you think wins; Ryan Garcia or Gervonta Davis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Davis had been appearing live with Cenat, one of the world's most famous streamers, when Garcia joined and the pair got into an heated verbal altercation. Davis and Cenat joked that Garcia should bet his purse if he's so confident and the pair agreed, seemingly making it official.
'Tank' shouted at his rival: "Yo, you wanna bet?. Garcia then responded: "Yeah, let's do it. I'm down." Davis then added the condition to the bet: "The whole purse?" Before Garcia rounded off the bet and confirmed his agreement, adding: "Let's do it the whole purse. You hear me on the live, let's go, let's make a contract, let's sign it, both of us."
Reports indicate that Davis will likely earn around £1.2 million prior to his split of the pay-per-view revenue with Garcia a fraction at around £300,000. Both fighters will be hoping that the showdown will spark significant interest and that they will end up leaving with considerably more than those numbers.
