By: Sean Crose
“I was close to getting up for sure,” Ryan Garcia told the gathered media after his knockout loss to Tank Davis Saturday night in Las Vegas. “I don’t have any excuses. I just couldn’t get up.” Although close, the Davis-Garcia fight was mostly dominated by multi-titlist Davis. Still, there was not doubt that Garcia had his moments. In the end, it was a perfect left to the liver that ended things for Garcia. A delayed reaction knockdown led to the popular Californian being unable to get back to his feet before the referee counted to 10. At the post fight press conference, however, Garcia made it clear he felt it was now time to move on.
“I’m going to 140 (junior welterweight),” he said when asked what was next. “I feel much stronger at 140.” Since Saturday’s fight was held at a 136 pound catchweight, Garcia was asked if the subsequent rehydration rule had an impact on his performance. ” I can’t really pin that too much,” he said. “It is what it is. I signed the contract.” Garcia went on to give some props to his conqueror. “I think he’s someone that’s just a little more disciplined with me,” Garcia said of Davis. “I didn’t play it smart. I started getting bored in there.”
Suffice to say, getting bored while sharing a ring with Gervonta Davis is not advisable. “I definitely messed up,” said Garcia. Again, however, the man appeared to be looking towards the future. “I plan on returning whenever I can,” he said. “Three months, I believe it is, and I’ll get back to it.” With all that being said, Garcia indicated that there really was no bad blood between himself and Davis, that the smack talk leading up to the fight had all been to get in his opponent’s head before the opening bell.
“It was nothing personal,” Garcia opined. “I hope to get a rematch some day.”