Gervonta Davis maintained his perfect professional record by handing Ryan Garcia his first defeat in their much-anticipated 136lb catchweight grudge fight in Las Vegas.
Davis, who has held world titles in three weight classes, dropped his fellow American in the second round at the T-Mobile Arena with a counter left hook having absorbed Garcia’s power moments earlier.
The taller and rangier Garcia got back to his feet and was in the fight until being caught with a short, savage left to the ribs in the seventh, which saw the Californian’s demeanour noticeably change.
He tried to shrug off the blow and even pawed out a jab but buckled to one knee, where he stayed as referee Thomas Taylor administered the 10-count before waving off the fight as Davis celebrated.
“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,” said Davis (now 29-0, 27KOs).
“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’. He just shook his head, ‘no’.”
Davis could now set his sights on the winner of Devin Haney-Vasyl Lomachenko, who clash for the former’s WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight titles next month.
“I just couldn’t recover,” said former WBC interim lightweight champion Garcia (23-1, 19KOs).
“I couldn’t breathe. I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up.”
