Former world champions Tony Bellew and Andy Ruiz Jr accused Ryan Garcia of ‘giving up’ in his loss to Gervonta Davis on Saturday.
Garcia suffered a stoppage defeat by Davis in the seventh round in Las Vegas, when he was unable to beat the referee’s count after a left hook to the body.
Davis, 28, had also dropped Garcia in Round 2 with a left hook to the head, but the 24-year-old came under criticism for his reaction to the second knockdown – which ultimately settled the 136lbs catchweight bout.
Bellew took to Twitter to write, “Spewed it!” after Garcia suffered the first loss of his professional career, while Davis stayed unbeaten. “Yes they really hurt,” the former WBC cruiserweight champion continued, “but you’ve gotta rise! Do it once and you’ll do it again!
“The attributes Garcia has are amazing! He’s the quickest and one of the biggest fighters in the [lightweight] division yet he lets people get to him! If he uses them gifts he has properly then I swear he’d be almost impossible to beat! Amir [Khan] had similar attributes! Stay away [and] box!”
Meanwhile, former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz said in an Instagram story: “I was going for Ryan, but he gave up, man. I feel like he gave up.
“I feel like he should’ve did what he had to do to win the fight. When we get down, we’ve got to get back up, man. We’ve got to ask God for that victory.
“I feel like that’s what he should’ve done, I still feel Ryan should’ve did more, man. He should’ve risked his life more.”
After losing to fellow American Davis, Garcia said: “He just caught me with a good shot, I don’t wanna make no excuses in here. I couldn’t recover, and that’s all I gotta say.
“He caught me good. I couldn’t breathe. I was gonna get back up, but I just couldn’t. I think I gave him too much respect in the ring, I think that was my downfall.”
In the post-fight press conference, Garcia added: “I didn’t feel too good, I felt a little weak going into the ring; my legs didn’t feel too much under me. But once the fight got going, it kind of all came together. So, I can’t really pin [it on] that too much.”
Davis holds the WBA lightweight title, while Garcia is a former WBC interim champion in the division.
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