In the first PPV show of 2023, WBA champions met in the light weight limit – American Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) forced the Dominican title holder Hector Luis Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs) to capitulate.
The fight began at a leisurely pace, which was clearly in the hands of the underdog. As soon as the favorite raised the density of the fight, the Dominican fell down. Garcia, however, has his own version of what happened. He believes that the referee is to blame for everything. He really surprised during the fight – in the 8th round he suspended the fight due to a fight between the fans.
It was this episode that allegedly cost the underdog victory.
Words Garcia: “Imagine how seriously my visibility would skyrocket if I won! But most of all, of course, what hurts me is exactly how I lost. Everything went according to plan. I just caught the rhythm, and then the referee stopped the fight. As soon as I gained confidence and completely calmed down, the fight was suspended. And then everything fell apart…”
“I think that the referee should not have stopped the fight,” the loser continues, and, perhaps, we still need to agree with him. But that is his decision. I have to accept it, even though I don’t agree. Already in the hotel, I realized that in vain I refused to continue the fight. I constantly asked myself: “Why did you stop?” It was just necessary to continue to do what was bearing fruit, to work according to the plan. Later, rumors spread that this episode, that fight was staged – allegedly this was agreed in advance with the Davis team.
Garcia believes that “before the stoppage, he looked better and won (the judges still counted a slight advantage for the favorite). I knew how he would act. Worked according to plan, won. I felt that with each round I was becoming more dangerous, and my punches were more and more explosive. Fortunately, there were no injuries. A week passed with redness around the eye, but there was no fracture.
Earlier, Rick Glaser revealed depressing PPV sales numbers for the Davis-Garcia fight. But columnist Dan Raphael claims that this is a fake – the fight has collected more than 200 thousand paid broadcasts sold.