Garcia Victory Tees Up Tank Mega Fight

Ryan Garcia stepped back into the ring at the weekend, barely three months after his last bout. In front of him this time was Javier Fortuna, a thirty-three-year-old southpaw who had only been stopped on one occasion prior. But Garcia was in the mood at the Crypto.com Arena and duly delivered knockdowns and then a knockout.

Garcia, 23, has always been tipped for big things in the sport, and after bringing to an end a fifteen-month hiatus from boxing, King Ry first stepped back into the ring to defeat Emmanuel Tagoe in April, winning by unanimous decision. He quickly decided to capitalise on his recent success by lining up a bout against Fortuna in what was the headline fight on the card promoted by Oscar De La Hoya. While things went to plan for King Ry, Fortuna will have wished he had stayed at home.

The fight, which was scheduled for twelve rounds at 140lbs, was very much a mismatch, with Garcia being the heavy favourite with sports betting operators and the taller, quicker, and more accomplished fighter. King Ry took control of the bout early and managed to put Fortuna down on three occasions, with El Abejon touching the canvas in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. And it was in the sixth when Garcia’s left-right secured the victory, with Fortuna failing even to attempt to right himself before being counted out by referee Jerry Cantu.

Speaking after his second victory in several months, Garcia said, “I know I performed well for myself.

“And I know that I was crisp, I was sharp, and I stayed in my truth. I didn’t do anything crazy. I know how good of a fighter I am. I just had to put it all together, and you've seen that come together today. I mean, the fight speaks for itself. I don’t need to say anything. You seen how I fought.”

Even before his recent successes, there was talk of Garcia and Gervonta “Tank” Davis meeting in what would be a mega fight. And, after Garcia made light work of Fortuna, King Ry has some words to direct at Tank, “I’m not going to back down to 135 for nothing, but I will fight Tank next.

“If Tank wants that at 140, I’m going to record all the negotiations so that you guys don’t make no headlines saying I’m ducking it. If he wants it, let’s get it.”

And with Garcia firing shots at Davis, Tank responded with a cryptic tweet which said: “See you all at the end of the year.” So, anticipation has already started building ahead of what would be one of the biggest fights in boxing right now. The pair don’t like each other and have been rivals for a while. And, with both men undefeated, everything will be on the line if they get it on at the back end of 2022.