By: Sean Crose
Boxing isn’t much of a tough guy competition, truth be told. In fact, it hasn’t been a tough guy competition since fighters like James Corbett began successfully employing things like jabs and footwork in the late 1800’s. Since that time, simply being tough in the prize ring hasn’t cut it. Look at ferocious ring masters of the past like Jack Dempsey, Sonny Liston, and Mike Tyson. There were a lot of skills at work there to complement all the violence (Or was it the violence that complemented the skills?).
Maybe that’s why it’s such a big deal when two top fighters square off who happen to be as violent as they are savvy. Ray Leonard was smooth, sure, but the guy knew how to rise to the occasion and get brutal when he had to. Just ask Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran, two men who knew far better than most how to combine skill with destruction in the ring. And let’s not even get started on Marvin Hagler. His 1985 shootout with Hearns remains one of the greatest moments in the history of the sport.
And while it’s silly to hope 99.9% of any fights will rise to Hagler-Hearns levels, there’s a lot to be excited for about this Saturday night’s bout between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas. The fight, which is being held at a catchweight of 136 pounds, is scheduled for 12. Not that people feel it’s going to go that long. These fighters are knockout machines. The two undefeated young combatants have had 53 bouts between them. Only six have gone on to the final bell. Fists are going to fly with frightening amounts of power behind them this weekend.
What’s more, these guys are in their primes. That makes Davis-Garcia a very big deal. It is, no doubt, the fight professional boxing needs right now. The question, of course, is who will win? And the answer likely is: Whoever can take it better. In other words, which man can successfully endure the heat as he walks through the other man’s fire? Davis is honestly the more skilled of the two fighters, but he starts off slow. Plus Garcia is taller and fires punches with lightening fast speed. Provided the fight doesn’t end in the first few seconds from a howitzer fired by one of the contestants, each man is going to the feel the other’s power.
Who, then, will be able to take it? Who can take it long enough to remain standing? Who can take it well enough to ultimately outclass the other should the fight reach the final bell? Make no mistake, this match is very unlikely to be snooze fest. All it will take is less than half a second for matters to come to a crashing conclusion. There’s a reason this one is getting so much attention.
