By Allan Fox: Shakur Stevenson doesn’t believe Ryan Garcia’s power will trouble Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis when they meet in April.
Stevenson says that Tank Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) isn’t worried about taking shots, but he’ll make sure that he adjusts when he faces Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs). Davis won’t blindly walk in, taking the best punches from Ryan.
What some boxing fans have apprehension about is the number of stiff headshots that Gervonta took in his fight last Saturday night against Hector Luis Garcia in their main event bout on Showtime PPV.
Tank, 28, was getting hit frequently by Hector Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs) until he finally scored a stoppage after hurting him in the eighth.
If Tank isn’t on guard for Ryan’s lightning-quick left hook, he could get hurt and stopped by the 24-year-old fighter. Ryan’s only chance of winning is to load up on his left hook and swing for the fences for as long as the fight last.
Given the problems Ryan had taking shots from the only halfway decent opponent he’s fought during his career, Luke Campbell, his fight with Tank Davis could end quickly in the first or second round in April.
At best, Campbell was a bottom fringe-level guy in terms of talent, yet he had Ryan badly hurt after dropping him with a left to the head in the second round of their fight in 2021.
That fight showed that Ryan couldn’t take a punch, and he’s been careful ever since, fighting two weak punchers, Emmanuel Tagoe and Javier Fortuna.
Ryan knows that he’s got to go after Tank from the opening bell to try and score a knockout immediately because his chances of winning may depend on that.
“He [Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis] doesn’t care about getting hit. He’ll have no concerns. In his brain, he will feel like he can take anybody’s punches, and so far, he’s been holding up,” said Shakur Stevenson to the DAZN Boxing Show about his belief that Gervonta Davis will walk through Ryan Garcia’s shots to defeat him in April.
Tank does care about getting hit, but with his short T-Rex arms & limited height, he has no choice. For Tank to land his best power shots, he’s got to get in punching distance, and that involves him taking two or three missiles from his opponents before he can let his fly.
“No, I don’t think so. I think Ryan is a good puncher, but I doubt that he is going to just walk forward and take any punches from Ryan Garcia. I think he’s a smart fighter and will adjust,” said Shakur when asked if Tank Davis can handle being hit repeatedly by Ryan
