Via Chris Williams: Promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr has turned down Ryan Garcia’s request for his bout against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis to be held at 140.
In an interview on Wednesday, Floyd said that if Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) wants to fight the Davis Tank, he has to be willing to do it. “Sacrifice” by lowering weights to face him at the age of 135.
Mayweather says he’s ready to hit Davis-Garcia over the next 90 days, as long as they agree on it going at 135.
Floyd points out that Gervonta is party A in the negotiations, and not the other way around, with Ryan Garcia in a position of power.
Mayweather reminds fans that Ryan has never been a world champion and that his WBC interim lightweight belt he won against Luke Campbell doesn’t count.
Ryan, 23, has never won an actual title, just the jeweled strap he got for his win over Campbell.
Incidentally, that fight was the last time Ryan fought at 135, as he rose to 140 later and hit his last two fights in that division.
“So if you feel like you can beat Tank and you’re a better fighter, guess what? Make sacrifices,” said Floryd Mayweather Jr Fighthype about what Ryan Garcia had to do to get the fight with the Davis Tank.
“You just fought at 135 [in January 2021 against Luke Campbell]. We can fight for 90 days if you want. Anything you want to do. Won’t smoke,” Mayweather said.
It’s unlikely that the Tank Davis vs Ryan Garcia match will be within 90 days, but it’s great that Floyd is willing to push it so quickly.
Golden Boy Promotion boss Oscar De La Hoya and head of PBC, Al Haymon, are likely to schedule a Davis-Ryan fight in November or December. Negotiations will take time and they will wanted to promote the contest over the long term to create as many hype as possible to maximize pay-per-view purchases.
“The fight must be at 135,” Mayweather went on to talk about his eligibility for the Gervonta vs. Ryan. “We can make the war happen, but the war will happen at 135.”
It can be doubted that 23-year-old Ryan will make a fuss about having to drop to 135 for a fight with Davis Tanks because he wants that match. Look at it this way.
If Ryan doesn’t agree to the 135 lb limit, he won’t get his big payday against Tank and he’ll have a hard time fighting less popular but equally dangerous fighters at this level. 140.
Those guys hit hard at light weight, and they can take a punch without wilting.
If Ryan were to face 140-pound guys like Regis Prograis, Jose Zepeda and Jose Ramirez, those guys would be as passive as Javier Fortuna in his battle with Kingry.
Ryan better agree to the 135 lb limit and hope that Mayweather doesn’t ask for the rehydration limit.
“Sacrifice, sacrifice, and we can make it happen,” Mayweather said.
