LAS VEGAS – Gervonta Davis took a few seconds to think before he answered the question during his post-fight press conference late Saturday night.

Ultimately, Davis determined that Ryan Garcia is the best opponent he has faced in 29 professional fights. Davis knocked Garcia to the canvas twice – once apiece in the second and seventh rounds – but Garcia’s speed and power made him dangerous until Davis’ vicious body shot suddenly ended their 12-round, 136-pound fight at 1:44 of the seventh round at T-Mobile Arena.

“I’d say he’s the best fighter,” Davis said. “Definitely, we was going off each other energy in there. We was actually talking in there. You know what I mean? It was fun. It was fun while it lasted. You know what I mean? I enjoyed every moment of it.”

Baltimore’s Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) led on all three scorecards when his perfectly placed left to Garcia’s body caused a delayed reaction and made Garcia take a knee with 1:30 to go in the seventh round. Judges Steve Weisfeld (59-55) and Dave Moretti (59-56) had Davis in front by at least three points, whereas Tim Cheatham had it a little closer (58-56).

The 28-year-old Davis said he never felt hurt by any of Garcia’s punches. The strong southpaw still had to be wary of Garcia’s power, but he knew that Garcia wouldn’t be able to contend with his ring IQ and skills.

“I don’t know. I just felt like I was like a step, a level above him,” Davis said. “You know what I mean? So, everything he was doing in the ring, I was already aware of everything. I was already aware a couple steps before he did it. So, I was mostly calm and just let him make his mistakes and I just, you know, yeah, I countered off his mistakes.”

Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) lamented after suffering his first defeat that he wasn’t more patient when he faced Davis. His haste cost Garcia in the second round, when he believes that he hurt Davis.

Soon thereafter, Davis drilled him with short left hand in an exchange, which knocked Garcia to the seat of his trunks with 1:01 to go in the second round. Garcia got up almost as soon as referee Thomas Taylor started to count and didn’t appear all that hurt once the action resumed.

The 24-year-old Garcia said he was hurt more in the second round of his fight against Luke Campbell, who dropped him with an overhand left. The Victorville, California native eventually recovered from that shot and knocked out England’s Campbell with a left hook to the body during the seventh round of their January 2021 bout at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

“I thought I had [Davis] pretty hurt, to be honest,” Garcia said during the post-fight press conference. “He was actually hurt and then that’s what I get. I ran into a big shot and, I mean, that’s what I get. I was impatient and then I ran into a [overhand] left, I believe. It didn’t really hurt me too bad, though. I got hurt more with Luke Campbell. But then that was that. Yeah, it was simple. I got impatient and I got caught.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.