The Big Fight

It is finally here. Multi-weight world champion Gervonta Davis will face Ryan Garcia in a 136-lbs catchweight bout that has the whole boxing world buzzing. The two are similar, yet different in so many regards. Which is most of the drama as well.

Let’s look at the similarities. 

Both have huge followings. Both have a lot of power and tend to knock out their opponents and at times both have looked vulnerable enough for other fighters to want to call them out. Add to it, they both have celebrity friends and we are looking at two of the biggest stars in boxing. Davis vs. Garcia is similar to Tom Cruise fighting The Rock in a summer event. Though they may never get the praise of what we deem ‘better actors’ they capture the general public interest, and because of that, this fight will be unavoidable to any-and-all in most forms of popular culture. 

Now the differences. Garcia has built up his image not unlike Jake Paul. Garcia has had a Justin Bieber-like run of growing up in front of the world’s eyes. A child star in boxing which rarely happens, who could sell out venues due to his good looks, and personality on social media platforms, yet has never fought for a world title. Garcia is a decorated amateur and a great fighter – but the keyword is ‘unproven as a pro’. We know Garcia can fight, but now we have to see where he fits amongst the very best in the division, as this is something we have never seen.

Davis, on the other hand, is becoming a figure that fans of hip-hop and fashion have become familiar with. Davis is a complex figure, who has had his own personal troubles but always delivers in the ring. Out of all of the lightweights, the world has gravitated toward Davis for one reason or another. Now, it is up to him to see what legacy he can leave behind – as Davis not unlike Garcia is thinking about leaving the sport sooner rather than later. 

The fight is so interesting as these are two popular and iconic figures in boxing. Two figures who transcend the sport and have now entered into the world of vanity that is social media.

Davis is the proven fighter. Davis has fought world champions, Davis has been on pay-per-view, and Davis has taken the driver’s seat to be this generation’s great fighter. That said, what makes this fight interesting is that Garcia is willing to fight Davis. These two didn’t have to fight now but chose to fight now. That is what makes this fight interesting. 

In most people’s eyes at lightweight, we have a big five – Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Ryan Garcia. Two of the four are fighting on Saturday in a fight we want to see, and no one can feel confident about how it will play out until the bell rings. 

This is what boxing is about. Laying it on the line. This is a fight that will dwarf most of the fights of the year not just in terms of action, but in terms of the people attending this bout. 

The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will be rocking – and this fight will forever be remembered in boxing history. 

undercard.

David Morrell will take on late-sub Yamaguchi Falcao in the co-main event. To read about the circumstances around the removal of Sena Agbeko read my story on ProBox TV News here. Morrell has less than ten fights and is already considered a top-5 super middleweight, and will face a tough Olympian in Falcao, who has underachieved as a pro but is tricky. Falcao fits the bill of the perfect fighter to make a good fighter, looking to campaign for a big fight – bad. 

Do I see the outcome in jeopardy – no. Do I think Falcao goes the distance in this fight – yes. This fight is an audition for Morrell to make a case for big fights in the future. In a marquee spot, a big win here – and if Morrell were to call out a Canelo or David Benavidez might help him secure one of those fights for the third or fourth quarter. 

I hate this fight! I really do. Gabriel Rosado will rematch Bektemir Melikuziev, in the typical boxing thing that happens. Rosado upset “Bek The Bully” a year or two ago, and it was a feel-good moment. Rosado hasn’t looked the same since he fought Jaime Munguia, and now this feels like the classic prospect getting his get back against the fighter who upset him. In sports, we cheer for the underdogs – in boxing, it feels like we often punish the underdogs. Rosado rematching Melikuziev is not unlike the Miami Heat defeating the Bucks, and the NBA creating a new series for the Bucks to be able to advance anyway, as Jack Kelly explained on the Expert Hour this week on ITRBoxing’s Youtube channel.

This just is an uncomfortable fight to watch and Rosado is getting to a point where I am starting to worry about life after boxing for him.

My favorite emerging middleweight is Elijah Garcia, who Felix Gracia Jr., is working on a tremendous feature for OF.TV on very soon will stay busy against. Kevin Salgado. Garcia truly feels like a fighter who could take over this division.

Showtime Sports will offer a two-hour window of coverage of the undercard bout, which should include Vito Mielnicki Jr., as well as Golden Boy Promotions Floyd Schofield. Another bout of note is Fiodor Czerkaszyn taking on former Xander Zayas’ opponent, Elias Espadas. The middleweight division is horrible right now and lacks any form of depth – if Czrkaszyn wins, he could be on TV soon.

Other notable fighters to follow on this undercard are; Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson, Jalil Hackett, and heavyweight Tristan Kalkreuth. Of those names I feel like Schofield known as “Kid Austin”, and Hackett have the highest upside as main event attractions.

IBF 130 lbs Title Fight

Boxing at times can be the worst…Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov is the IBF 130 lbs champion, despite Joe Cordina winning the title in highlight fashion by knocking out Kenichi Ogawa in two rounds. Cordina was then stripped after a month or two of holding the belt because he didn’t report his injury properly to the IBF. 

The bout is sneaky good and will be overshadowed by the pay-per-view card, but speaks to something most might not realize. Rakhimov is becoming one of the best 130 lbs fighters without getting much attention. Rahkmiov fought JoJo Diaz Jr. to a draw, defeated Zelfa Barrett, and now faces a top-5 130 lbs fighter in Joe Cordina. 

I think most people looking objective and knowing the context of Cordina losing his world title, would probably like to see Cordina win this fight as the belt politics were very inane in this instance. That said, this fight could be for the best super featherweight in the world as the division has gone quiet. 

A true 50-50 fight that will fly under the radar. 

undercard.

Gavin Gwynne and Craig Woodruff fought to a draw in September of last year, and now they will do it again with Gwynne’s British lightweight title on the line. Should be a good Euro-level fight.

130 ler Zelfa Barrett, who lost his shot at the vacant world title to Rakhimov, will face former world title challenger Jason Sanchez, in a 12-round fight. Decent undercard attraction, not sure how much Sanchez has left.

Sandy Ryan will fight for her first world title against Marie-Pier Houle with the vacant WBO women’s welterweight title up for grabs. Ryan is a potential marquee name in women’s boxing and should win her first world title this week. This sets up some interesting fights for her in the future. Per Eddie Hearn, if Jessica McCaskill wins her next fight, a mandatory, she will face Ryan (if Ryan wins) later this year. 

Other Notable Fights

ProBox TV, Wednesday – ProBoxTV.com

ProBox TV has a really fun fight card, like they always do on Wednesday, April 19th, that will feature former world champion, Luis Collazo against Angel Ruiz, in a 154-lbs fight. Collazo fought most of his three-decade career at 147 lbs., even winning a world title in that division. In Collazo’s last two fights, Collazo has accumulated a lot of damage from head clashes, as his last two fights have been stopped due to the damage suffered from that. Ruiz has one big win to his record over Bobirzhan Mominov, an undefeated fighter – who he beat on Ring City USA, but other than that has struggled to make waves in the national fight scene. 

Welterweight Vadim Musaev will face Martin Alvarez. Alvarez is undefeated, but yo-yo’ed in weight from 130 lbs., to the middleweight of 160 lbs. 

A former Olympian who is now in his late 30’s Prince Dzanie will face twenty-something Jose Salas, in a ten-round 122 lbs., that will possibly create a contender in the division

Cruiserweight Robin Safar will be in action off-tv. Safar has a style that should give him a lot of opportunities in this division.

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Thompson Boxing, Friday Night – YouTube 

George Acosta is becoming the man at Thompson Boxing. This will be his second headlining appearance in 2023 and it appears the 130 lbs fighter might be the breakout star for Thompson Boxing at the current moment. Acosta will face Cesar Villarraga.

Other notables, Ruben Islas will fight on the card, and game Southern California veteran, Anthony Chavez will face the tough journeyman Dihul Olguin.

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Misfits Boxing on DAZN Friday.

The notable attraction for this DAZN fight card is the return of Le’Veon Bell to boxing, JustaMinx, who is as good of a boxer as anyone in the YouTube boxing world, and Chris Avila, who is a friend of Nate Diaz, will fight on the card.