Ryan Garcia’s delayed reaction to a knockout punch from Tank Davis on Saturday night left many confused.
Garcia lost to Davis in the 7th round of their fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. after being dropped twice. He was knocked down in the second and again in the seventh. He was unable to make the 10-count in the seventh despite looking like he was trying to.
The face of boxing @Gervontaa stops Garcia in round 7 with a VICIOUS body shot 😱 #DavisGarcia pic.twitter.com/8MRrWvBOOQ
— All the Smoke Boxing (@atsboxing) April 23, 2023
So what happened? Garcia explained after the fight.
The previously undefeated fighter was interviewed by Showtime’s Jim Gray and credited Davis for the big body shot.
All class from @RyanGarcia 🙌#DavisGarcia pic.twitter.com/VQIURKtUq0
— All the Smoke Boxing (@atsboxing) April 23, 2023
“He just caught me with a good shot. I don’t want to make no excuses in here. He caught me with a good shot and I couldn’t recover,” Garcia said.
Gray kept pressing for more of an explanation.
“I couldn’t breathe. … I was going to get back up. I just couldn’t get up,” said Garcia.
It sounds like Garcia was physically paralyzed in that moment. But saying he couldn’t breathe illustrates just how tough of a shot Davis caught him with.
Garcia lost for the first time and is 23-1. Davis remains unbeaten and is now 29-0 with 27 knockouts.
