Ryan Garcia reflects on the one and only setback of his career.
The boxing star boasts a professional record of 24-1, with the one defeat coming at the hands of Gervonta Davis last year. ‘King’ Ryan has bounced back in the ring, defeating Oscar Duarte in December and is set to return in another massive fight vs. Devin Haney.
Garcia: ‘I Looked Like A Straw’ In Boxing Match Against Davis
Ahead of fighting the two-weight world champion on Apr. 20, Garcia takes a detour to talk about his deafening TKO loss to ‘Tank’ and everything surrounding the event, including a rehydration clause that didn’t let Garcia put on more than 10 pounds on their fight night.
“That was his strategy, he did it,” Garcia said of Davis’ restrictions on their fight on ‘The MMA Hour’. “Kudos, they won, I guess. To me, personally, even if I won that fight in his position, I wouldn’t be happy. I looked like a straw fighting him. You’re happy that you fought that guy? That’s crazy.
“The fact that you were still holding on for dear life in the 2nd round in the beginning is even crazier. Because he told me, when I drop you like Luke Campbell, Imma get your ass out of there. When he dropped me, did he not he didn’t even take a step forward.”
Another Way To Look At It
Garcia manages to keep his head held high almost a year after losing to Davis. It might not be a registered as a win on his record, but the 25 year-old thinks he came out victorious in a different battle altogether… one for the sport of boxing.
“What does that tell you? ‘F*ck, this dude’s like that, kudos to him’. He got the victory, but I feel like I won not a physical victory, but a spiritual victory, and I helped out the sport. I got everything lit up. Now everybody’s fighting. Next fight was Crawford and Spence. So, I really lit the the sport on fire after that.”
“No. I was chilling,” Garcia said, when asked if it was difficult to digest the loss. “I made $30M. Wasn’t at my best. I didn’t really care. I was just happy that I got it done finally, and I had a peace in my heart that must have came from God because I’d have no worries.
“I said, I know I’m way better than that, and just played itself out. I had a lot of things going on in my personal life at that time as well. So, just everything that had to be was, you know, I feel like it just they played out how it was meant to play out.”
Fool Me Once…
With the result playing out the way it did, Garcia is definitely interested in running it back with Davis. However, he’s not interested in fighting under the same circumstances from their first encounter.
“He’ll never play me like that negotiation wise ever again,” Garcia said of a potential rematch Davis. “If he wants to make a 100,000,000 in one night. I mean, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but I think I’m the only guy that can do that with him.”
No Regrets
A lone loss upon Ryan Garcia’s record won’t push the boxing star to regret taking the fight in the first place.
“I showed the sport that, yeah, you can make your assumptions about me, but I’m really like that. I look like a guy that you wanna paint a picture and perceive as soft, but I’m the only one that actually did it though. You guys talk about it, I did it.
‘I Was Literally Handicapped!’
Garcia knew right away he was in for an off-night before facing ‘Tank’ Davis in Las Vegas.
“I went and lost that weight. I killed myself to make that weight. I walked in the ring as a dead man walking, and lifted myself up high, and did not care and it was the biggest fight of my life. I came out to a worship song at the biggest fight of my life. Your guys are not like that, I’m really like that. I go and commit, I go. So, that’s what that was the big statement for me. In the back room, I was [thinking] ‘Oh, this is not my night.’
“When I was hitting the mitts, nothing was coming off sharp. I mean, what can I do? I’m in that position. I’m like, okay. I’m weak for a reason, obviously. I was staying dehydrated. I would get regain 10 pounds, which water weight carries like 7 of it on itself, so I had no strength. I was literally handicapped,” Garcia added. “This is not an excuse, this is the truth. When it’s the truth, it’s not an excuse. He literally handicapped me in every single way.”
Garcia’s Return Is ‘A Straight Fight’
Ryan Garcia says he won’t be tethered to any more out-of-left-field clauses in future fights, saying ‘shame on me’ for agreeing to fight Davis under those terms.
“For the 140lb title, this is a straight fight,” Garcia said of his next fight vs. Devin Haney.
