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Episode Date: April 22, 2023

Chris sits down with DAZN boxing broadcaster and the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe to preview the fight of the year; Ryan Garcia vs. Tank Davis. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Here's Chris Mannix. All right. It is a big week in boxing, so why not post an extra episode of the podcast? We are live on AMP right now. So if you like this podcast and want a earlier version of the podcaster to get it sooner, can listen, of course, on AMP, follow me there. Sergio Mora, the former junior middleweight champion, his own broadcaster. He is with me to break down everything about Ryan Garcia against Tank Davis.

Sergio, I was talking to Akken Barack earlier in the week about how big this fight is. Like, what kind of level is this fight on? Your opinion, what, you know, how big is this fight? I keep saying this is a, this, what is it, Gen Z, this generation, Gen Z's version of Hagler-Herns. I think I'm going to actually switch it up a little bit. I think it's as big in popularity as Delahoya Mayweather. I really do. Because it's pretty big.

That's huge. That's huge. And we're going to find out with the numbers. That was 2.4 million pay-per-viewbys, I think. I think we're going to get high one point something in this one. I don't know about that. That's a lot. All right.

That's how big it is. I'm telling you right now, I'm going out on a limb. I'm saying that. I'm saying that right now. You think this fight exceeds a million paper view buys? Absolutely. Absolutely.

I think this generation is going to surprise a lot of people. I mean, they spend money, man. They also steal stuff. Like they pirate stuff. Like your kids are smarter than you when it comes to technology and they're like eight. You're right. No, you're right about that. But I really think they're going to invest the money into wanting to watch this kid.

He's so popular. Ryan Garcia is very, very popular and they're going to want to buy. My kids, speaking to my kid. Tank is probably more popular. My kids don't know Tank. I got an eight-year-old boy who knows who Ryan Garcia is. He doesn't know Tank Davis. Now, Tank Davis is popular with a boxing fan with,

with he has his own fan base i love tank davis this is going to be a mega fight uh but i really do do think if it exceeds one a million buys hold my word on that that's a lot that's a lot of buys i do think it is the biggest most marketable fight that we've seen in a few years at least you've got to go back to like the first couple of canello galofkin fights to really find something more marketable i guess fury wilder was also pretty marketable fury though probably lesser known in the U.S. than Garcia and Tankar, certainly. But it's a mega event, and I think it's going to draw a lot of eyeballs. I tell you, just being around town, you know, the last, you know, a couple of days.

People talk about this. I go to NBA games. Absolutely. Guys are asking me about this. So it's definitely captivated the attention of the main. All right, Manix. Quick question. Over under.

What do you think it does? Paper view. 400,000? Probably. I'll bet you anything you want. It easily exceeds 800,000. I mean, I don't know what you're thinking about. I don't want to make this about pay-per-view, but like, I don't look, 10 years ago, yes,

I'd probably agree with you. But people are more sophisticated now. They steal stuff. That's just the way it goes. It's just the way it goes. No, no, no, sophisticated and thieves. Hand-in-hand, no, it's not going to work that way. They're going to pay for this.

All right, I encourage them. If you go on the zone, you can get the fight for $60. It's, you know, regular pay-per-view, $84.99? Hey, listen. and one month free subscription to DeZone and everything it provides, including our show. Come on, you got to plug it in. I know. Jab's on DeZone.

Watch that every day. All right. A couple things I want to get to before we get to official predictions. One of the storylines that's emerged during this fight is the weight, right? Like Tank Davis negotiated the terms of the contract where Ryan Garcia has to hit 136 pounds and can only rehydrate up 10 pounds. at some point on Saturday, I don't know the exact time that he weighs in,

but at some point Saturday, Ryan Garcia can only rehydrate. Oscar Delahoya has kind of grabbed onto this over the last couple of days and used it as, you know, a cudgel and used as something to hit Tank Davis with over a tank potentially not being as confident as he professes to be.

Do you think that tank asking for a catchweight and asking for a rehydration clause are signs of anything. Do you think that that means anything? No, it doesn't mean nothing. It just means he has leverage, and that's what smart fighters do. Floyd Mayweather did that plenty of times with opponents,

and several fighters that are the A side. They demand stuff like that because they can. Canelo did that with Chavez Jr. and other fighters. Anytime you have that kind of leverage, you use it, and don't be using words like cudgel to me, because I have no idea what it means, man. I'll just use another word. Yeah, it's just smart, man.

It's smart business. It's smart promoting. and a smart beam, Tank Davis, because that's all his team. Fighters have pride. They never want to say, oh, I want him to dehydrate. I want them to be a little bit weaker. I want them to, no, no, no, this is a team after it. If it was up to a tank, he would have fought him at anyway, but it's because he has smart

management that they actually wanted that stipulation. So I love that. But I don't think it's going to be a big deal. And I'll tell you why, because the IBF has a similar protocol. You can't go over 10 pounds. It's kind of annoying because you've got to be a big deal. to watch what you eat the very next day until you weigh in and then you can go back to eating and drink whatever you want. So it makes no difference that. Yeah, but Ryan Garcia,

Ryan Garcia's never had to deal with that though. Like he's never fought for an IBF belt, so he's never fought for a world title. Right, but he's, but the point is he's never had to, you know, watch what he ate after a way in. He's always, whatever he rehydrated to, he rehydrated to. And that's, that's, I think that's kind of a big deal, Sergio. I mean, have you ever, have you ever had that in your career? Yes, I fought for the IBF title, and I had to do that several times. On the contender, I couldn't fluctuate because I had a fight maybe three days later, so I had to watch my weight every single time.

Okay, so let me drill down on this then. You fought for the IBF title. What was that? Who did you fight for that one? Daniel Jacobs. Daniel Jacobs, the IBF time. I forget, but yeah, it was for the IBF title, yeah. And it was a 10-day, it was 10 pounds.

You couldn't eat 10 pounds in 24 hours. I remember this, because Jacobs, when he fought Ganadi Golofkin, you know, blew it off and just wouldn't fight for the IBF bell because it didn't want to worry about getting up or having to worry about that the next day. How much did that change how you, you know, operated in the 24 hours after the way in? It's in your mind. I'm not going to lie. It stays in your mind and every time you take a drink of water, you go step on the scale. Every time you go to the bathroom, you step on the scale. You try to even it out. So yes, it stays on your mind. And it is a mind game. But if you're in great shape and you know that it's not going to be an issue like Ryan Garcia clearly is and looks in great shape.

He doesn't look drawn. He doesn't. He doesn't have that cotton mouth. He doesn't. He doesn't look drawn. You're right. And he doesn't have cotton mouth either. Anytime you have a fighter that's draining and dehydrated, watch their mouth.

They don't like to talk that much. The more they talk, the more they get the cotton mouth. So you always want to watch stuff like that. The eyeball sink in. The cheekbones get drawn in. These are all signs of a fighter that de facto. graduated. So Ryan Garcia looks great. Did you have to, I'm looking at your record right now, which is always fun for me to do. But did you have to do that for that secondary IBF title?

I know you fought Abraham Hahn. I only lost the two champions, okay? I know. I know. I'm just telling you, you fought Daniel Jacobs with the WBA belt. It wasn't the IBF belt. I fought for an IBM title. Yeah, a secondary one I'm saying, Abraham Hahn right before the Jacobs fight. Was that also? Yes, it was. That's the one it was, because I was supposed, supposed to fight Jermaine Taylor for the IBIF title. Oh, yes you were. Yes, you were. No, the second time.

I'm talking about the second time. The first time was for undisputed, which I didn't. The second time was for the IBF, and then he did what he did with, he didn't show up. But yeah, it was a 10-day weighing. It was a 10-day weighing. 10-pound way-in, yeah, 10-pound way-in. So, look, you won that fight against Han by split decision. Did that impact your performance?

No, the change of opponent. impacted my performance. It was within 10 days switching to opponent or whatever it was. All right. So as you pointed out, Ryan Garcia looks pretty good. I mean, I talked to him this week. He didn't look like he was having any trouble

cutting down in wake. And to me, if you're going to make a list of things I was most interested in, making weight for Ryan Garcia was probably at the top of that list because, look, he fought at 140 in his last fight. That was back in July. He hasn't fought since then.

he's a big kid, he's 24 years old, he's growing. Not to say that is going to be a difference maker in this fight, but the fact that Ryan Garcia seems to be making weight in a fairly comfortable way, I don't know about you, but I think that bodes well for his chances. Like I like to say, Maddox, making weight right is half the fight won, because making weight is actually just as hard to step into the ring and fighting for boxers, because we know how much of a sacrifice it takes, and we've been doing it for young kids.

And you've got to calculate it at the right time. And if everything goes as planned, then there's no better feeling of, that's it. I made it. Now the easy part, I just got to go fight. Making weight is such a crucial part. And yes, he does look good. Ryan Garcia has youth on his side

so he can take advantage of his body and actually shed extra weight and not feel weakened by it. When youth is on your side, you can take advantage of it. I think Ryan Garcia is going to, I think the stars are going to line for him. He's going to look, he looks great, he's going to look great. And I think when it comes time to fight night, it's going to be an explosive fight because of it. I mean, everything's coming to fruition for him. So which of these fighters do you have more questions about coming in?

Because neither one of them has great resumes. You know, Ryan Garcia has that win over Luke Campbell. Tank Davis has that win over Jose. Padraza. But, you know, then we're talking about Javier Fortuna or Romero Duno on Ryan Garcia's side. You know, Tank's fought some better known guys. Mario Barrios was a quality win for him. Esau Cruz was probably a quality win for him. Like, which of these fighters do you have more questions about coming in? I have more questions about Tank Davis because, like you said, the resume is iffy on both their parts. And I slightly like Garcia's resume.

I tweeted that before and got a lot of stuff for it. Yeah, I questioned Tank Davis because, one, we never seen them hurt. We never seen them drop. We never seen him face adversity. And we've seen Ryan Garcia face adversity when he got dropped by Lou Campbell. I mean, that's a big thing right there. That's when you discover what type of fighter you are, you know, it's sink or swim. And he passed the test with flying colors, came back and knocked out Lou Campbell.

How is Tank Davis going to react if he gets dropped, if he gets rocked, if he gets chin checked, which he will. which he will. This fight, he's going to get, he's going to get hit. And how is he going to react to that speed, that power, that surprise? You know, is he going to shell up or is it, or he's going to show out? These are questions you don't know, because we've never seen it. And he's 28 years old, and he hasn't been hurt because he hasn't fought champions. And Ryan Garcia, even though he hasn't fought a champion himself, he's fought former champions, and he fought Luke Campbell, who dropped them, gold medalist, and he was able to fight for some titles himself. So that's the big question. How's Tank going to react when he gets chin checked?

Do you worry at all about Ryan Garcia's defense? Because, you know, Ryan will tell you that, look, he's never been cut. His face has never been beat up in fights. But Luke Campbell did drop him with one of those sweeping lefts that we know Tank Davis is capable of throwing. And look, he's flat-footed. He doesn't move his head an awful lot. Like, how concerned are you about Ryan Garcia's defense against Tank? Who will? be the biggest puncher Ryan's ever faced. I've been very concerned from Ryan Garcia's defense. He doesn't have upper body movement.

He doesn't move his head. He doesn't react well when he's ever, when fighters get on the inside and break that range. He doesn't move a lot. He doesn't use the entire ring because he's so damn quick with his hands and he has so much power. He hasn't had to do that, but he's going to have to do that against a tank Davis.

And the reason he doesn't do that, not only because he has those attributes, but because of his trainer as well. you know uh gusen uh joe gusin he trains fighters to be flatfooted i mean Diego corolla the michael nunn uh you got i mean you got so many fighters that had a lot of speed a lot of power but they're tall lanky fighters you know so they didn't have with power so they didn't have to move didn't have to do all that didn't have to you know uh bob and weave like that they rely on a long jab a big right hand and you know go for the knockout ryan garcia if tank let me take let me take

that back when tank gets in the inside we're going to have to see how Ryan Garcia reacts to that normally he just shells up you're not going to be able to shell up against a power puncher like like Tank Davis how is he going to fight back once one tank breaks that range which you will that's when we're going to see something special i mean everyone is choosing tank by knockout i think this is going to be an explosive dangerous fight for both fighters that doesn't go past four rounds. I'm saying that this, this generation's Gen Z, Hagler versus Hearns, the war, went three rounds, both of them got hurt. I see it going the exact same way. I don't know if it can be Hagler-Herns because from the opening bell, those two guys were just

trading. And I don't see that happening in this fight because Javonte is historically a slow starter, and he's not a volume pressure. But Garcia is a fast starter. He is. And that's why I think, you know, If Ryan wins, it's probably because he catches Tank in the first five or six rounds. I think if it gets past six, Ryan's in a lot of trouble. Because, you know, I've talked about this before, but I hate, I generally hate the idea or hated when it's said that, you know, guys are processing information in the ring or downloading information. Downloading. Tank does that, though. Like, Tank is learning on the fly and figuring out how to get to his opponent.

And he said, all we go. Great fighters do that. Right. But he has said all week long, he's used the phrase, Sergio. a situation. They time the speed. They time the range. They time the power. They get a feeling for it. They want to see how hard a fighter hits when the shots are reflecting off the shoulders off the glove. And then once you get... It is dangerous to do that against Ryan, though. And I've said this. It is dangerous to kind of think too much against Ryan early on because you and I

have been in those fighter meetings with Ryan Garcia opponents. They never really kind of understand how fast and strong he is until the fight's over. Like it's oftentimes a little dismissive. Remember Manuel Tigo was like, nah, he doesn't he can't hit. He can't do that. He can't do that. ran for 12 rounds. Like guys never really believe what Ryan's got until they're in the ring with them. You know, if Tank gets too cute early on, Ryan's going to catch him with something. Now, later rounds, if he gets on the inside, huge advantage Tank Davis. Because I don't think Ryan is going to be able to hang with the counter punching of Tank.

And I think Ryan's got to be really careful not to get over eager in this fight, not to do what Roli Romero did in his fight with Tank last year, which was kind of lunging. in and then take a big counter shot because even when tanks, punches don't look that hard, they clearly are powerful. I mean, that Rale-Ramara counter didn't look like the hardest of shots, but Raleigh went down and was out at that point of the fight. So I look at this fight, the first half, Ryan Garcia, big advantages. Second half, Tank Davis, big advantages. I think the first half is going to be 50-50. Second half is going to be Tank Davis. that's why I think

Tank's the favorite in this fight because of that because of the fact that he has the power I think he has a smart fight IQ and he can box as well if if hear me out on this

if Tank Davis comes out and starts fainting foot faints hand faints upper body faints very good with that if he does that early then you're going to know

he has a game plan that Tank Davis has a game plan because he's trying to get that mouse trap left hook to snap so how do you get that going by feigning. Once that goes, tank could come inside with the left hand to the body and then the uppercuts and over the top. That's when Garcia gets to shell up. Once Garcia shells up, then it's, you know, you can throw every punch in the book if you're

Tank Davis. That's the power of a South Paul. Once he breaks that range, the punches could come from the left-handed angle and Tank is very good at dissecting the body. But not only are you, you got to watch out for the upper body hooks, but he always goes down to the body, comes up with uppercuts, it'll be dangerous, man. If Tank comes out fainting and breaks that distance within two rounds, I don't see Garcia less in the distance. No, Tank is a very intelligent fighter in the ring, and he and Calvin Ford are going to have a really good game plan coming into this fight. So I think Ryan has to find a way to test that chin a little bit early on, because we still don't know if Tank has a chin. We're not sure about Ryan, like getting knocked down by Luke Campbell.

Luke Campbell, not the biggest puncher in the world. So, you know, that leaves open the question of whether Ryan can get caught and really badly hurt in these situations. But I think at some point, Sergio, both these guys are going to have to dig really deep. They're both going to get clipped. They're both going to get tested. And I think whoever can dig deepest and overcome adversity is going to win this fight. That's so cliche, man. I mean, you're a writer.

They're going to face adversity. They have to face adversity and dig deep. Come on, man. You're a writer. Be more creative. Sergio, I said the same thing about Caleb Plant, David Benavides. I thought Caleb Plant was going to have to bite down and face adversity and how he dealt with it was going to determine how that fight. He didn't.

All I'm saying is you're a writer. Can't you embellish and decorate it with some words? Oh, my God. I used the word cudgel and you didn't know what it was. Look, I'm going to give you a line. Oh, God. Both these combatants are going to have to muster up the adversity and the energy. You don't muster up adversity.

who produce the prowess of what makes gladiators. You don't produce prowess either. You are... But you know what I'm trying to say. Butchering the English language right now. Absolutely butchering the English. I didn't graduate college, man. If you did.

So how about you to use some brilliance in your words and you're writing? Aren't you technically like four credits away from graduating college? Isn't that still a thing? Three, three credits away. And it's junior college. Junior college, great. All right. Official prediction from you for this fight.

What do you got? I got Hank Davis an explosive dynamite, dangerous short fight under four rounds wow wow i got ryan g ryan rccia by stoppage i just yeah i think he's going to get that left hook off against tank and while i think tank is better than anyone he's ever faced pause while i think tank hold on while i think tank has a good chin and we'll show it in this fight speed kills it always kills and you i remember I just go back. I know Fortuna is not tank by any stretch. He is a poor, poor, poor man's version of tank.

But he didn't see any of those punches coming. And he was just beaten down over the course of that fight. I also think the fact that tank is a southpaw works to his benefit against a lot of fighters. But Ryan Garcia is as familiar with fighting southpaws as anyone, not just because Luke Campbell was a southpaw or Javier Fortuna was a southpaw. but Ryan Garcia grew up with a younger brother who is a boxer, who is also a Southpaw. So his early life sparring sessions were against Southpaws. So he's going to be as prepared for that dynamic, which Sergio, I think matters in this situation.

Like, Southpaws can be very difficult to figure out it's why guys don't run to fight them when they have other options. But Ryan Garcia being comfortable in that particular situation, I think will work in his favor. I agree with a lot of what you say But I don't think he's going to catch him with a left hook You know how hard is it to catch a saltpull that's 5 foot 5 You know with a left hook It's going to be really hard because they're so What's the word?

Contiartuio. Routuna was the same dimension Or tuna's 5 foot 7 We're talking about 5 foot 5 in tank And he literally is a tank He knows how to fight small You're not going to fight a guy like that Or a guy like Issa Cruz and catch him with Czech leftooks

You're not going to do that Because they're like tanks right here It's going to ricochet off the top of their head It's going to ricochet out the top of their glove. The right hand is how you catch South Falls. That's the major punch and uppercuts. But it's going to be hard for a taller fighter like Garcia, who's 5 foot 11 to catch a 5 foot 5 with uppercuts.

It's going to be jabs and right hands. If Garcia gets out of the first half of the fight, it's because he's coming out jabbing, fainting, and using right hands. I don't think the folks are going to be a major factor against a fighter that's 5.5 and is explosive and dangerous thing. You think there's any chance this fight could go to a decision? decision? No, I think this fight ends in and out. There's no way. First of all, Garcia's not made for the second half. He's an explosive fighter. You know, we've seen him against Tago going the second

half and kind of, you know, struggle and pinning them down and cutting off the ring. Tago ran, though. That's Tago ran. Tago ran. It doesn't know how to cut off the ring because he fights flat-footed Garcia. Tag's not going to run, though. Like, that's, you know, he's going to be there. tank's going to push them back push them back what I'm saying yeah yeah so it's going to the fight doesn't end in a distance

there's no way it goes to the decision decision someone's going to get knocked out I'm ready this fight man I'm ready this is I haven't been this excited for a fight in years to be honest I haven't seen you excited in five years working with you thanks for your time Sergio imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged it's the enhanced games

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fans. so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Leonard Ellorby is the CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

He will be in Las Vegas on Saturday as part of the biggest fight in boxing. Jervante Davis, Ryan Garcia. That's a fight you could exclusively watch on pay-per-review. And Leonard joins me here on the show. Leonard, I will say this right up the top. I was in Brooklyn less than a year ago, and I saw you. And you were pretty convinced back then that this fight was not going to happen. So what has changed in the last 10 months?

or so that we are now preparing for Gervante versus Ryan? Well, a lot has changed. You know, initially, as you were well aware, because I was very vocal about it, that I had sent two offers over to Golden Boy at that time, not at obviously, you know, at the same time, but two different times. And they just weren't ready to make that fight at that particular time. You know, Tank has always been willing to make that fight with Ryan Garcia. but the time is now.

You know, you got those two young undefeated guys coming together, and I give both of the fighters all the credit, because, again, they're the ones that actually made it happen. But as you just mentioned, if it was up to Golden Boy, we know that this fight wouldn't be happening. Well, I don't know that to be true. Like, I don't think Golden Boy has shielded Ryan from that type of fight. Maybe they have, like, Devin Haney or,

Devin Haney's really only one. I know they've probably shielded him from. But I think they would have done, for the right deal, would have done a tank fight in the last couple of years. No? No. No. But it's okay. All this water, water, you know, water under the bridge. We're here now.

And that's the most important thing. Did you believe over the years that Ryan Garcia wanted this fight? A thousand percent. Look, you got to, you know, if you paid attention to my opening comments at the presser, I looked him in his eyes and stated to him that, you know, we were in, we were in Florida for the Floyd Logan Paul. And I ran into him outside of my hotel. And we actually had like a 20 minute conversation, you know, about it, you know. And I told him at that time that it's going to be coming your way.

You just got to put your foot down and make your team, meaning your promoter do it. And I told him this to his face and he will tell you this. I said, this will be life-changing money. And I said it to him, again, this will be life-changing money, and this is something again, is that this is what it's all about, landing on the line. You know, that's what it is. So Tank is the A-side in this fight for a good reason.

He is, you know, one of the biggest stars in all of boxing domestically. Really only Canello does numbers that are, that exceed. Gervantes. You've been part of his growth over the last few years. The multi-million dollar gates in several cities, East Coast, West Coast, Central America. What is it about Gervante Davis that has connected him to fans in the way that he has? It's his, what he brings to the table. You know, he has a fan base, which has expanded each and every fight. He gets the fans exactly what they want to see. The fans pay their hard-earned money and they want

to be entertained. And that's what he does. He's the most exciting fighter in the entire sport and I've been very adamant about that. I love his fighting style when he comes to the ring. He ain't coming to play. He's coming to get you out of

there. And that's what the fans want to see. So we have seen Gervante unquestionably grow as a star. What people, and I've definitely been one of them, have been clamoring for, have been to see him in with one of the top guys in and around his weight class. Why is it taken so long to get him to the point where he is in this kind of super fight? Well, one, Chris, the lightweight time was changed four times in the last

two and a half years. That's the answer to your question. Well, that's not really the answer to my question. You could have pursued fights with Teofimo, with Devin Haney, with Ryan Garcia. As you said, you did pursue a fight with Ryan Garcia. But it has just seen, and look, these are the words of Floyd, that you wanted to keep things in-house for as long as possible. Why was that the right strategy? Well, let me kind of touch you on that. Floyd said that, and he said that in the context of what the conversation was,

fights are made when they make sense for both sides. Okay. As you stated, tank is the A side to any of these situations when any of these guys. Okay. What it comes down to is that, see, and again, you know, you know what it is, and I know you're trying to educate your fan base. It just has to make business sense for the other side. You know, there's no way possible.

that you have going to have another promoter that's going to try to make a fight with, say, a Javonte Davis, when it doesn't benefit his promotional company, you know, long-term, short-term, because,

one, you know, promoters make these fights when, let's call it what it is, when it makes a lot of money. And their case, you know, because I understand what the business is, and sometimes, you know, some of the critics don't understand what the landscape looks like, you know, and you oftentimes, you'll hear me saying, well, Aaron's not going to do this, this person's not going to do, because I know what it is. I know what it is.

But to ask you, to further answer your question, the lightweight titles changed hands in, you know, a few times. Haney has all the titles, you know, at the moment. He's a terrific fighter. You know, I, like, I personally have been, you know, impressed with what, what him and his dad has been able to do thus far. You know, he has a good fight with Lomacheco in front of him, and that's what that is. But our focus is on what's in front of us, and that's Ryan Garcia, which is the biggest fight in boxing.

And me personally, you know, Tank will make his decision who he's fighting. post, you know, this fight when he knocks Ryan out. And that's, it's going to be what it's going to be. It's going to be what it's going to be. He can't fight everybody in one night. He just can't do that. Hank's an active guy on social media can be. Do you think the criticism of his opponents has bothered him over the last couple of years?

I won't say bothered him. I think at times that, you know, like sometimes, you know, somebody might catch me. in a certain kind of mood and I might say something, say something slick, but it's just what it is is part of the game. And what he does understand that the criticism comes when you're on top. That's when, you know, because everybody wants your spot. That's what it comes down to. So over the, over the last couple of years, he's matured from that aspect of having a better understanding on why he's received certain criticism. So is, do you look at Tank as being different than Floyd in the respect that Floyd,

I don't know if Floyd always made the greatest business decisions early. He took the toughest fights early, whether it was Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo a couple of times. He went to Arturo Gotti's backyard to fight him in New Jersey. Before he became Money Mayweather, he was pretty boy and he was dominating, you know, really high level guys. Like that to me feels like the difference. It feels like Gervante went to pretty boy Floyd or went to Money Floyd

before going through the pretty boy Floyd period. I have to disagree with you on that Chris only because these are two different errors. And people always want to compare what Floyd did, what Floyd did. Floyd did this thing and it was a different era.

You know, there was a lot of great fighters around at that time when Floyd was fighting. you know what I mean but this era is different you have some very good fighter young fighters but at the end of the day you know it's it's

it's more about being consistent and beating the top guys over a period of time and I think that you know so some of the fans in media have criticized tank in the past about fighting this guy and all I've said is that well fight who

you know it was first it was Tio Okay. Then I told you guys that he wasn't what y'all were making him out to be. Okay. Then, you know, you know with how the title has moved. And so we'll see what it's like. But Tate wants all the smoke. He wants all the smoke. It's just, it just comes down to you can't do it all in one night. This is the start of, he's the first one guy that's getting in there with another young undefeated guy. Okay. So let this be the start of something great for the fans, you know, moving forward. But Tank was all the smoke. And I'm very confident he can be each and every one of those guys.

So against Ryan Garcia at these press conferences, Tank Davis said effectively Ryan Garcia only has a left hook. Do you believe that Ryan Garcia only has a left hook? We're going to find out come next Saturday night. All right, let me ask it this way. What worries you about Ryan Garcia? Nothing worries me. he's a very good fighter and I'm going to always give credit where credit is due.

You know, some of the fans want to downplay him. You know why he wanted to downplay him now? Because he's fighting Tank Davis. If he wasn't fighting Tank Davis, it'll be a different story. Because at one point, some of the media, not saying you, he was one of the four kings, remember? Well, you're talking about Ryan, right? Right, Ryan was, he was part of the... No, you can say, you can say, you can say.

it's me. I was in Brooklyn when you were saying specifically it was me. Manix, thinking Ryan Garcia is this great thing. Manix, thinking Ryan Garcia is one of these stars. Look, I have, but letter, my pumping this, pumping guys up is honestly just to get to this point. Like, this is what we all want. We all want to be in Vegas for a Garcia tank fight. I have heard, and you know, I do cover the NBA, you know a lot of NBA guys. they're all in my messages texting me, you know, DMs, how do we get tickets to the fight? You know, when's the fight? What's the date? What's happening? This is the kind of fight that captivates mainstream attention. So that, when I'm pumping Ryan up and trying to push that fight along,

I just want to get to this spot, my man. I just want to get where we are right now. I guess what I ain't mad at you for that. I mean, he's done a really, really good job himself, of marketing himself. And he has a, he's a great, a great internal team. And, you know, I give credit with credit he's done a phenomenal job of doing the self-promotion and putting himself in a position where that he has a lot of attention on him. He has a whole base of young influencers, TikTokers, and along with that, also fight fans who really understand that, you know, in my eyes, he's always been a very good fighter. I've just always said he can't be tank. But he's always thought that he's been a very good fighter. I like what he does inside the ring.

He has a very good skill set. I like the job that his dad has done with him to build him to get him to a certain point. I like the job that Joe Gousson has come in and kind of improves and tweak some things, which I noticed firsthand that some of the fans might not notice. But he's a good fighter. And this fight isn't going to be, you know, easy. but I expect Tank to go in there and do exactly what he's supposed to do because the IQ is different, the skill set is different, and we're going to find out if Ryan can take a punch.

We're going to find out if you can take a shot. How certain are you that Tank can take a punch? I'm very confident that I've seen Tank get hit in the gym. I've seen him be hit in fights, and I know he takes a good shot. We've seen guys, you know, who don't take a greater shot, you know, from different weight classes. We've seen guys get buzzed. You know, it's happened to the best of the fighters, you know. And at some point, every fighter is going to face adversity in their career.

You know, it's just a matter of just how do you handle it. But one of the greatest strengths is he has a very good chin. That's one of his greatest strengths. He has a very good chance. Can tank fight against Ryan Garcia the same way he's fought against Mario Barrios, against Roli Romero, against Hector Luis Garcia? And when I say that, I'm more referring to how selective he is. You know, Tank's not a volume punching guy.

He's a thinker in the ring. He's someone that looks for, you know, downloads information, looks for big shots. Can you do that against a guy as explosive as Ryan Garcia? Yeah. Tank is a complete fighter. So he can do it all. He can do it all. If he needs to turn it up from round one, he can do that. You know, if he sees it, but he's not a reckless fight. See, there's a difference. He's a thinking fighter. I agree. He picks his shots and he sets traps and he does all that kind of thing. Well, who knows? This fight might be from round one. This might, this fight right here might be Herms Hagler, all over. I don't think that's too much. That's too much too far. No, we don't, man.

Listen, we don't know what's going to happen. But I do know the fight's going to end in the knockout is Tank Davis is going to be brazen his hand at the end of the night. However it goes. I'm of the opinion, Leonard, that if this fight ends inside six rounds, it's going to be because Ryan Garcia ended. If this fight ends six rounds or later, it's going to be because Tank Davis ended it.

What do you think of that? But I don't see any scenario where Ryan Garcia wins the fight. But it can knock him out in one, or it could be nine, it could be 12, it could be three. At some point, he's getting knocked out. I can't call around, but I just, I know what the outcome is going to be. My guy is just, he has everything. He does everything great. And Ryan does everything really good, but Tank just does everything better.

Leonard Ellaby, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Tank Davis, Ryan Garcia, live on paper review from Team Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Saturday, April 22nd. Leonard, I enjoy you with the new beer, too. So I appreciate you. Thank you, Mr. President. You don't get a compliment from you. You know, that's big. I appreciate that, boss. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

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