Ryan Garcia admits rehydration clause left him ‘a little weak’ coming into Gervonta Davis fight

Last night (Sat., April 22, 2023) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia clashed in a meeting of top boxers. Both were undefeated coming into their fight, with Garcia 23-0 and Davis 28-0. In the end, Garcia’s 0 had to go when he was caught with a nasty liver punch in the seventh round (watch it).

Already there’s talk of a second fight between the two, possibly without all the extra weight restrictions pushed on Garcia by the Davis camp. The bout agreement stipulated two weigh-ins: one on Friday at 136 pounds, and another on Saturday at 146 pounds (Garcia hit 144.9 pounds on the second attempt).

Immediately after Garcia’s defeat, Conor McGregor suggested a rematch with no hydration clause might go differently. Garcia did admit he wasn’t feeling great on the night of the fight, but was careful not to make excuses.

“I mean, from an honest like perception of it, I didn’t feel too good,” Garcia said during the post-fight press conference. “I mean, I felt a little weak, you know, going into the ring. My legs didn’t feel too much under me, but once the fight got going, you know, it kinda all came together. So, I can’t really pin it on that too much.

“It is what it is,” he concluded. “I signed the contract and that’s that.”

As for the liver punch that put him down onto one knee?

“He just caught me with a good shot,” Garcia said. “I don’t want to make any excuses in here. He caught me with a good shot and I just couldn’t recover and that’s it. He caught me with a good body shot, snuck under me and caught me good. I couldn’t breathe. I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up.”

During his post-fight press conference interview, Davis seemed surprised that the punch finished the fight.

“I didn’t think that body shot would end it,” he said. “But, I saw his facial expression and that’s what made me take it to him. It was a good shot, for sure. I thought he was going to get up but I like to play mind games, so when he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to tell him, ‘Get up!’. And he just shook his head, ‘No.’”

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