LAS VEGAS – Ryan Garcia intends to return to the 140-pound division for his next fight. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Garcia dropped down to a catch weight of 136 pounds for the biggest fight of his career against Gervonta Davis on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. The 24-year-old Garcia is certain, though, that moving back up to 140 pounds will be beneficial because he felt “weak” when he entered the ring for his seventh-round knockout loss to Davis.
“I’m going to 140,” Garcia said during his post-fight press conference. “You know, this fight’s not gonna deter me too much [from] my dreams. You know, I got in there with one of the best. You know, we fought. You know, I thought I did what I had [to do] to get in the ring. But I’ll feel much stronger at 140. … I’m gonna feel good. I’m gonna go up and fight the top fighters at 140, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) weighed in at 140 pounds, the junior welterweight limit, for his bout before he faced Davis, a sixth-round knockout of Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) last July 16 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Davis demanded a catch weight four pounds lower and a second-day weigh-in that restricted both boxers from weighing more than 146 pounds late Saturday morning.
The 5-foot-10 Garcia, of Victorville, California, weighed in at 135.5 pounds Friday afternoon, when Davis got on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 135.1 pounds. They added approximately the same amount of weight prior to their second weigh-in, as Garcia (144.9) again came in slightly heavier than Davis (144.1).
Baltimore’s Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) and Garcia were allowed to add as much weight as they wanted from the time of their second weigh-in until their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event began.
Though Garcia contended that he didn’t quite have his legs under him when he entered the ring barely nine hours after their second weigh-in, taking part in a highly publicized event that attracted a lot of attention outside of boxing’s shrunken fan base was worthwhile for a grateful Garcia.
“I feel like I’m still a big attraction in the sport,” Garcia said. “ And moving up to 140, I think whoever I fight’s gonna be big, so it’s gonna be exciting to see where our careers go. You know, kudos to Gervonta. I hope the best for him and, you know, he’s gonna do great things at 135. But I plan on moving up to 140 and doing my thing.”
Garcia expects to become a world champion in that weight class.
“I believe so, for sure, yeah,” Garcia said. “One-forty, I’ll feel strong, I’ll feel fast. Yeah, yeah, 140, I’m coming for you.”
When asked who he would like to fight in the junior welterweight division, Garcia didn’t mention the names of any potential opponents.
“All the top guys, anybody,” Garcia said. “I know a lotta people are gonna wanna call me out, so bring ‘em all on.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.