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From the moment both Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis placed their names on the dotted line, Jermall Charlo knew that he had to be front row and center to witness their encounter.
It didn’t matter what Danny Garcia had going on April 22nd, the former two-division titlist made sure he cleared out his calendar and made a beeline to Las Vegas.
Although Gervonta Davis has faced a plethora of world-class fighters, at least on paper, it appeared as though Ryan Garcia would be his toughest test. The blinding hand speed, eye-catching knockouts, and braggadocious attitude forced countless prognosticators to take the 24-year-old seriously. Amongst a long list of names that were under the assumption that Garcia was more than capable of upsetting the applecart, was former Davis foe, Rolando “Rolly” Romero.
At one point, it seemed blasphemous to place anyone in the same stratosphere as Vasiliy Lomachenko. His bemusing angles, ubiquitous offensive output, and sublime defensive acumen allowed the Ukrainian to aggregate world titles in three separate weight classes.
Initially, both Jose Benavidez Sr. and David Benavidez were convinced that facing Caleb Plant would be a walk in the park. But after 12 excruciatingly hard-fought rounds, team Benavidez is singing an entirely different tune.
Thus far, becoming a unified world champion at 130 pounds has been the crowning achievement in the young career of Shakur Stevenson. However, after failing to strip those final few pounds from his body last year, the former Olympic silver medalist made the decision to move up in weight.
At any given time, Gervonta Davis could have simply folded. His upbringing, a well-documented struggle as both of his parents grappled with drug addiction, Davis was forced to grow up quickly. In addition to his family issues, Davis was surrounded by the doom and gloom atmosphere of Baltimore, Maryland.
On a day-to-day basis, being mendacious is a common thing. Whether it’s referred to as a bit of a fib or a bald-faced lie, being dishonest occurs daily. But while most can get away with bending the truth, according to Ryan Garcia, the sport of boxing has a way of forcing its participants to operate in reality.
Long before becoming a household name, Gervonta Davis has expressed an extreme amount of confidence in himself. Thus far, his self-backing has worked out perfectly as every opponent that’s stepped foot inside the ring against him either faltered underneath his deleterious knockout power or been thoroughly outboxed.
Shuichiro Yoshino’s hopes and dreams may have been incredibly lofty but the 31-year-old lightweight contender was convinced that they were very much achievable.