WASHINGTON (AP) —
Gervonta Davis defended his WBA world lightweight championship, beating Hector Luis Garcia by TKO early Sunday morning after eight rounds.
Davis shrugged off a slow start to improve to 28-0 with 26 KOs and hand Garcia his first professional loss in his 17th match. Garcia held in tough with Davis early but could not answer the bell for the ninth round because he lost vision in his right eye.
Davis, a Baltimore native fighting in his second hometown, is scheduled to face Ryan Garcia April 15 in one of boxing’s most anticipated showdowns of the year. “No more talking,” Garcia tweeted. “Let’s get it on.”
“I’ll be ready,” Davis said. “I’m ready for the fight. He’s been training, he’s been talking and let’s see who’s really about that.”
But first, “Tank” Davis had to get through Garcia, the Dominican who he said “earned his spot” thanks to a strong 2022.
After the sellout crowd of 19,731 waited until just before 1 a.m. for the start of the main event, Davis and Garcia waited a little longer to get going, starting with a couple of low-event rounds and very few punches thrown. Davis found his groove in the fourth round, landing several jabs and bringing fans to their feet.