MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia Instant Reaction | Morning Kombat Post-Fight Show

Episode Date: April 23, 2023

Brian Campbell has you covered with an instant reaction to Gervonta 'Tank' Davis vs. 'King' Ryan Garcia. Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.     For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Oh, yeah, from high above T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the Morning Combat Instant analysis is here. For all things Gervonta Tank Davis versus King Ryan Garcia, it's late night Saturday. It might even be Sunday where you are. Thank you for joining me. My name is Brian Campbell. Of course, that BBC with that B-D-E, baby.

No Luke Thomas this week. He's on vacation. But quick reminder, he is coming back with a bang Monday morning, 11 a.m. Eastern, when him and I take morning combat back live on the YouTubes there to break down all things this fight right here on Showtime Pay-Per-View and, of course, UFC and Bellator from over the weekend. Apparently, some people believe in spoiler alerts and instant analysis shows, so here's your wake-up call.

If you didn't watch the fight and don't want to know who wins, yet you logged into this YouTube stream anyway, you got a lot more problems than spoilers, but I love you. Anyway, I'm happy to break this down. A seventh round knockout, which, oh, by the way, what he predicted for Gervonta, Tank Davis, and the battle of two young, unbeaten, popular superstars. Would this produce the next face in boxing?

Well, Tank Davis said it himself before the fight. He said it himself in the ring afterwards. I am that guy. I am the face of boxing. And he just might be. Maybe not the numbers yet of a Canelo Alvarez or those big heavyweights in the UK when they match up against each other. But this is exactly, you know, I'll Dennis Green you. Tank Davis is who we thought he was, a power-punching, pound-for-pound,

skilled technical boxer who can wait, pick you apart, make sure, wait for that mistake and get you the heck out of there. Knockdowns in round two and then seven leading to the finish as Tank Davis lands the first defeat on the record of 24-year-old Ryan Garcia. Look, this was a fun fight week, a fun build. Shout out to Ariel Hawani, Kate Abdo, who I had the pleasure of doing weigh-in coverage. Steven Jackson joined us at Thursday's press conference and, of course, Kate and Ariel and I tonight, but this was a fun week to be a part of. the fight didn't necessarily turn into the

back and forth affair that some had hoped you know with both fighters trading knockdowns but i am going to give credit of course for ryan garcia for being game for coming to fight for in the second round after a tense non-eventful first round it was the knockdown that turned the fight but let's give ryan garcia attempts for what he was trying to do. He came out aggressive with that right hand, looking to time Tank in sort of mid-rhythm with these sharp, cutting right hands. He landed a clean one on Tank,

and then what I liked most about Garcia, who is the bigger fighter, he actually tried to implore some physicality. He was tying up Tank, was punching him with the right hands, was trying to spin him around and hit him on the break. That's the kind of stuff you need to do against a more skilled fighter, especially one who's smaller than you. But this is Tank Davis, who we harp for right reasons to say,

look, you can come for the knockouts, but it's not the knockouts that make him great. It's everything else that sets up the knockouts. Tank Davis knew you have a confident Ryan Garcia in round two, starting to land punches, and that's when the openings were there. Ryan led with a big sweeping left hook, which is, you know, his calling card, his Sunday punch, but it kept his chin out, did not recover, did not bring his hands back fast enough after that, and you saw Tank almost level change like an MMA

and come right back up with a, I mean, just a heavy right cross counter shot that knocked Garcia down. To Garcia's credit, and I think we predicted this coming in, that he would be game. He got up right away, tried to work himself back into that round, but here's the deal. That changed the tenor of the fight. Most specifically, that took away Ryan's jab. Look, I could not have talked enough from a CompuBox standpoint of how little Cenk throws. You know, he averages the least amount of punches against any active boxer over 12 rounds,

which is really the most ridiculous stat you've ever heard. But obviously, it's the accuracy. It's the fact that he waits for you to make that mistake before charging in that he gets people out of there. After that second round knockdown, he disciplined Ryan Garcia completely. He turned it into a one-punch-at-a-time fight in which there's constant footwork opportunities

and feints to set up opportunities. All you saw was Tank Davis trying to set traps to figure out Ryan's tell. Brilliant work, obviously. Big part of that was the dominant control of the footwork in a Southpaw versus Orthodox matchup. Obviously, that battle for foot placement is key. Tank owned that foot placement the entire night.

After the knockdown in round two, this is really where Tank won it in rounds three, four, and five, in my opinion. He committed exclusively on going to the body. Single shot, sometimes in a jab, sometimes in a lead left hand. And that really worked together to slow Garcia down. You know the speed of Ryan Garcia. You know the attempts early in round two at physicality.

You know the narrative coming in about the 10-pound rehydration clause. What do you do against a fighter potentially weakened by a hard wake-up? Somebody with faster hands and feet than you. You go to the body and you slow them down. While doing that, Tank completely took away Ryan's jab. And he did it, of course, by being quicker on the counter. You saw somewhat of a rattled Ryan Garcia in rounds 3, 4, and 5.

He wasn't wobbly-legged. Again, to his credit, after being floored hard, he got back up like he did against Luke Campbell. He was here and ready to fight. But you can feel in 3, 4, 5, this is Tank's fight. He's putting it together. Ryan did have one nice comeback round in round 6. It was a very close round, but he got off with that right hand.

I thought he landed the better power shots. So ultimately, I scored rounds 1 and 6 for Ryan Garcia. Same scorecard as if you watched the pay-per-view broadcast that Steve Farhood of Showtime had. But round seven is where Tank put it away. And you saw a, you know, there's some pep in Ryan Garcia's step in round seven. He had a good round six. You saw him taking more chances. It almost looked like a replay for a second there of round two. And if you're going to get over aggressive against Tank, especially in a fight that he has dictated the terms, right?

After round two, this became a Tank fight. One punch at a time, chest, slowly move around. That counter left hand that ultimately dropped and finished off Ryan Garcia is a thing of beauty. It produced the delayed effect, which body shots that are in that perfect spot to the liver on the left side, on the right side if you're the fighter, that, look, it know, it hits you.

You think it's not a big deal, and then your legs go out, and you're down in one knee. Now, for Ryan Garcia, he had some blood flowing from the nose. Referee Thomas Taylor was administering the count. You wondered in that moment, would he rise? He finally got to his feet after the 10 count, and I know what is going to be the instant reaction from people, especially the cynical people, is, you know, he could have gotten up.

I don't think his post-fight interview with Jim Gray, who I thought asked the right kind of pointed questions, necessarily solidified whether he could or could not have gotten up. In fact, Ryan kept saying, you know, I'm just not going to talk about it. He's a better man. You know, they were both humble afterwards, which I liked. And Ryan certainly said the right things. But, you know, if you're asking me a BC point blank, could he have gotten up? Should he have gotten up? Look, I'm not going to keyboard warrior you and try to act like, oh yeah, I would have. We don't know. We don't know how extreme the pain was. It can linger. It can keep your legs sort of shut off for 30 to 60 seconds. You

hear fighters talk about that. Obviously, the knee-jerk comparison in this case is Oscar De La Hoya, the promoter of Ryan Garcia, who had the same ending in his 2004 fight with Bernard Hopkins. That was a middleweight undisputed championship bout, first time in any division that the four titles were on the line and the title brought together and unified in the four-bell era. De La Hoya had success early against Hopkins, the bigger fighter, who he made come down two pounds because sometimes that's what A-sides do in this history of this sport.

But, you know, when De La Hoya went down to all fours after that body shot and he's pounding his glove at the canvas, he was never able to lift himself. He endured, you know, for whatever it's worth, heavy slander on the boxing message boards in the pre-Twitter era. In this case, only Ryan Garcia knows that, but it did look like the perfect place, key shot.

Recent callbacks to Showtime pay-per-view, Jermell Charlo knocking out Ba Na Na, Jason Rosario, the former unified champion, with a shot very similar to that. It's like blowing up the Death Star in Episode 4 of Star Wars. You land that body shot in the key, exact right place, you have a chance

of ending the fight. Could Garcia have gotten up and beaten that count? Would he have been compromised? Did he feel like maybe he could have gotten knocked out in that point? I don't know. But this was a masterful performance from Tank. And it wasn't without the hint of danger. Ryan Garcia did land here and there a few nice power shots. I thought he landed his best combination leading into the knockdown in round two.

There were times that he was aggressive. He was sitting down on the shots. Tank thought he landed his best combination leading into the knockdown in round two. There were times that he was aggressive. He was sitting down on the shots. Tank had to navigate that. Ryan Garcia is going to give a lot of people problems here. He's going to be in 140 moving forward, junior welterweight, after this cut down in weight. The gap between them was real. If you want to say the

power was the reason Tank won, again, sometimes we can fall into that. It was really the gap in IQ experience. Tank said to himself afterwards, he said, look, I knew Ryan wasn't going to be able to make the kind of adjustments after throwing punches that he would need to to keep himself protected

in fight number three of the Joe Goosen era of Ryan Garcia. There was a lot to like. You saw some improvements. But, excuse me, the natural gap between them and just basic technical skill, it's not the same. And I think Tank is on a higher level than almost anyone in this game, which I'll continue to bang that drum of the idea that if he's not in your

pound-for-pound mix, what are you doing? Tank Davis is showing you against all different kinds of opponents across multiple weight classes. I get early on he didn't fight the people that everyone wanted, but now that he's doing that, he's showing you. I mean, he is among the best minds in this game, the best complete packages, and obviously with that knockout threat, so dangerous on top of that.

He's absolutely masterful from tank. And Ryan is an exceptional athlete. He's got a fighter's mentality and a spirit for the most part. And certainly he's got power in the speed combo. He's going to give a lot of people problems. He's going to knock some people out. But that vulnerability at the highest level, that gap is still too wide. This was, like I said, Tank, who we thought he was, doing exactly that.

What's interesting now is what is the potential ripple effect of this fight? How big was the pay-per-view? It seems socially and in terms of the live gate and the prediction that this could be a top five or six fight all time in boxing history in terms of the finances, you had the belief that there could be, you know, this could be the fight to grow boxing. Maybe we start to bring down the walls.

Not everybody, though, of course, is going to act as brave as Ryan Garcia did, and that's why I gave him so much credit coming in of pushing his promoters and networks to make this fight happen. I don't care about Tank Davis' contract demands. I need to make this fight happen. I do think in a defeat, Ryan Garcia will grow a lot from this. His presence and platform will grow even more. But for Tank, it's like, can he now get the rest of the stars at 135 pounds

in and around that division in the ring with him? I hope. Devin Haney is the undisputed champion in this division. Tank has a secondary title that was not on the line tonight because of the catchweight. He's got Haney, Lomachenko, Vasily Lomachenko up next in May on pay-per-view. The one thing I'll say about Devin Haney and the idea eventually of a Tank versus Haney fight

is you've got to give him credit for how he's navigated his career in terms of taking chances right he had every promoter after him when he turned pro he actually went down to Mexico as a teenager to turn pro he ended up with Eddie Hearn but when he sort of hit a wall he thought on his advancement that's when he moved over to ESPN in top rank that's of course when he got the opportunity he had to fight Kambosis twice per that deal, and now he's getting Lomachenko. I don't know if he's going to resign. I don't know what Haney's future is, but you have to hope that having this summit,

bringing all the boxing fans together, all the promoters and networks, and making one happy family here, can this lead to Gervonta Tank Davis fighting the Shakur Stephensons, fighting the Devin Haney's, the Teofimo's, and all that? I hope so. One thing, though, I want to mention.

I want to remind people that I was day one-ish on this thing. And I want to remind people that nobody likes this idea at all except for me. But tonight I still like this idea. I think the fight that could get Tank to literally become the face of the sport, to literally surpass Canelo or the big heavyweights like Fury who can fill 80,000, 90,000 soccer stadiums, right, like Anthony Joshua does in the UK. It's a creative catchweight fight, and I know how old he is,

but Manny Pacquiao. I know, grown, grown, BC are crazy, crazy, you know. Pacquiao was here tonight. He's the same age as me. We're both, you know, BC are crazy, crazy, you know. Pacquiao was here tonight. He's the same age as me. We're both, you know, I'm a little more washed than him. Yeah, he's doing exhibitions at the moment, but I think he wants one more big test. Pacquiao is going to be the type of guy

you're going to have to drag out, away and out of the sport. He's just a competitor. That's all he knows. He loves this. You're telling me you couldn't get into a 143, 145 pound catchweight bout? I don't know. Pacquiao's not Pacquiao anymore, right?

He lost to Ugas on pay-per-view. But that size difference, he's still somebody. Just me talking. You want to get Tank to the next level? Possible. I hope, though, that Tank, of course, can continue to fight the biggest stars in and around this weight class. But this fight showed everything that's great about him. I don't know what's going to happen in a couple weeks with Tank when he has his court hearing involving that hit or run.

There's people saying you could see him needing to take a break from his career for some time if the penalty is huge. You can see other ideas where it's less. But Tank delivers in the ring at the end of the day. I think it helps him overcome a lot of those personal things that people say about him, rightfully so but this fight was a tank fight

you came for the spectacle, you came for the what if the opponent could establish their game plan but once people taste Tank's power that game plan goes out the window it's the old Mike Tyson line, right? and that's why Tank, the Mike Tyson of the lower weight classes just continues to show you how great he is, how unflappable he is, to be able to just pause all the distractions

around him and focus on the task at hand. I don't know if Tank can beat maybe the two best lightweights along with him at the moment that Devin Haney's and Shakur Stevenson's. I actually hope Haney could fight Stevenson first, then maybe we can make this, but he may be more well-rounded and more dangerous than all of them. I mean, Devin Haney is incredibly well-rounded, and obviously with that length and that size and control of the jab, that's an interesting fight for Tank. But Tank, I think, is

really ironed out almost all of the holes in his game. He's matured inside the ring, still a work in progress outside of it, but just a spectacular performance. Got the knockout. I liked a couple things. I like the – I always love the – I love trash talking with anybody, right?

Even if it was, like, predetermined or whatever. Like, I like when they push. I like to push it this way. I like Bernard Hopkins talking junk to Gervonta, spinning off, are they in his head, all that stuff. But I equally like afterwards when the two warriors show that same respect. They did. And I think we also saw a bit of a mini reunion here, whether you care or not,

and that's the Floyd Mayweather-Gervonta connection. Long been the promoter, mentor, big brother. They've had a lot of ups and downs here, a lot of rumors. And even though technically Mayweather Promotions is no longer officially promoting him, Leonard Ellery was back on the scene. The Mayweather brand was back on the scene. They're all under the PBC window. It's all one big family.

Leonard told me at Thursday's press conference afterwards that they've made up. It was kind of nice. Even though Floyd hadn't been a big part of this promotion, he stepped out of the way probably to give Tank the shine because I think to some degree that had become an issue behind the scenes, my opinion, not theirs. But to see Floyd show up in the ring, to see the joy of them embracing afterwards, it felt good.

You know, Floyd was proud. Tank, as a fighter, has all grown up. He's the man. The sport is ready for him to take the throne. You know, Canelo's still got time on top. Canelo is a big draw, still taking on big fights. Is he going to fight B-Ball to close the year? Is he going to fight Benavidez?

He's got to get through John Ryder first. But Tank is on his way to being exactly who he always says he is, that guy. You know, I'm that guy and you're not. And it's funny about the motivation here. The motivation Tank has had throughout this to take this fight was not like, let me get Ryan's followers and mix them with mine or whatever. It was to prove to people that all these hot stars that the media and the fans anoint, he knows he's better than them.

He wants to go out there and prove that. It's the best thing that can happen for the sport. You want a superstar who's willing to take on all. And if this negotiation can lower the walls and kind of open that up again, then the sport's going to carry on. I need all these guys to fight each other. Haney, Stevenson, what's left of Loma, Teofimo at 140. Maybe this is the path to do so.

But no need to belabor this too much longer alone here atop this arena as they break things down and I keep my staff here up even longer. Like Filty Phil, my man. Filty is, yeah, all right, I'll keep it together. All right, I will say this. David Murrell Jr. had a hell of a knockout in the co-main event against late replacement Yamaguchi Falcao.

I mean, damn, right? Knocked him out cold with a counter shot. Said afterwards the things you want him to say. Hey, David Benavidez, where are you? I respect you. I want to fight you next. Let's hope that happens because Canelo's fighting in May. We don't know if he's going b-ball for September or not.

Could you imagine David Morel Jr., just nine fights into his pro career, 25 years old, taking on somebody like Benavidez? Morel's a southpaw. He's slick. He can punch. Yeah, we're building a star. That was good to see.

But it's tanks night at the end. I think Ryan bounces back, you know, to put him in there with somebody he can probably knock out. But I think he will grow from this just the same. Both brands. I mean, look, it's a rare night in boxing where it's like everything was clean. It worked out. The better man won.

Nobody got injured. Nothing was corrupt. You know what I mean? We get to go home happy. So why don't we do just that? Go home happy. My name is Brian Campbell. It's been a pleasure doing the work this week. Luke Thomas on vacation. It's just the way the dates worked out. If this fight would have stuck to that original date, this guy would have

been on vacation last week, but I was able to be here. A fun event. You can follow us below if you're new to the MK universe. Luke Thomas and myself, Brian Campbell, we go live every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern on the Morning Combat YouTube channel. You can follow us on socials below. Thank you very

much for supporting everything we do. We've had some fun special guests this week from Eric Raskin, Karen Mulvaney, Alan Dawson, to Dan Canobio, Raul Marquez, how about Andre Ward stopping by? If you haven't checked that interview out, go to youtube.com slash morningcombat.

Great stuff right there. For our fantastic staff from Volca, Showtime Sports, and CBS Sports, my name is Brian Campbell telling you, um, what am I telling you right now? I could tell you about them hoes. I heard they ain't loyal, right? But I probably won't do that on a live broadcast.

I'll just tell you to take care of yourself. It's been great talking to you. We are out of here. That's it. I'm done. I'm not doing anything. I'm done. I'm done.