Gervonta Davis joked during his post-fight press conference January 8 that Ryan Garcia agreed to virtually everything proposed in their contracts for a pay-per-view showdown that was finalized last week for April 22.
Garcia’s eagerness to prove himself versus Davis is evident in the details of their rematch clause. BoxingScene.com has learned that it favors Davis because they are contractually obligated to a rematch only if Garcia defeats Davis in their 12-round, 136-pound bout.
If Davis loses, he will then have the option of exercising his contractual right to an immediate rematch within a certain amount of time following their fight. If Garcia loses, Davis, who is considered the “A” side of their event, won’t have a contractual obligation to fight him again.
Davis opened as slightly less than a 3-1 favorite to defeat Garcia, according to Caesars Sportsbook.
Davis, 28, and Garcia, 24, confirmed Friday through their social media accounts that their much-discussed deal was completed for April 22 at a site to be determined in Las Vegas. The targeted date for their fight had long been April 15, but it was pushed back one week.
A site deal for the Davis-Garcia card hadn’t been finalized as of Wednesday. Three Las Vegas venues – the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium, MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena – are under consideration for the highest-profile fight on the 2023 boxing calendar.
Garcia and Davis previously announced November 17 on social media that they tentatively agreed to fight sometime in 2023 in Las Vegas.
Baltimore’s Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) first needed to defeat Dominican southpaw Hector Luis Garcia in an interim bout that took place January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Davis stopped Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs, 3 NC) early in the ninth round of their 12-round, 135-pound fight, which headlined a Showtime Pay-Per-View event.
Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, passed on a proposed tune-up fight against Filipino southpaw Mercito Gesta (33-3-3, 17 KOs), which would’ve taken place January 28. The popular knockout artist last fought July 16, when he dropped Dominican southpaw Javier Fortuna three times and knocked out Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) in the sixth round at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
