On Saturday night, boxing fans eagerly anticipated the long-awaited clash between Gervonta "Tank" Davis and Ryan Garcia, which is expected to be one of the biggest fights of the year.
With both boxers in their prime, boasting impressive knockout ratios, and unbeaten records, the Las Vegas bout promises to be an exciting and highly-anticipated showdown.
Davis, who has won world titles in the super featherweight division, has a notable advantage in terms of experience. Additionally, he has knocked out nearly all of his opponents except for two.
In contrast, Garcia is significantly taller than Davis and is renowned for his quick hands and hard-hitting punches.
While the bookies have named Davis as the favorite, many fighters, trainers, and promoters believe that the fight will be a closely contested battle.
Jermall Charlo – Middlweight champion
While not predicting whether there will be a knockout, Charlo, the two-weight unbeaten champion, says it’s Garcia’s.
He’s so confident, he claimed to have bet $10k on the result.
Tony Bellew – Former cruiserweight world champion
“Both are excellent fighters and if they do what they do well then, I think it’s going to come down to who has the most on the night,” Bellew wrote in his column for DAZN.
“For me, that man is Davis and that’s just because he has so much power and I think he’ll land a huge shot some point late in the fight.
“Garcia will start quick, and I expect him to be in front when the fight gets into the later rounds, but Davis will be patient and when he does find the target of Garcia, I think that’ll be enough to end a memorable encounter. I can’t wait.”
Roy Jones Jr – Former four weight world champion
“First of all my hat goes off to both fighters for taking a fight like this at times like this, they’re not caring about their 0, they care about what the fans want to see and I applaud them,” Jones Jr told iD Boxing.
“Tank has a lot more tools than people think and Garcia is a much better fighter than people think.
“Garcia has been dropped by [Luke Campbell], who is not a bad fighter either, but if [Campbell] can drop him then we know Tank can drop him.
“But, how much punishment will Tank endure before he drops him, so the point is who can get their game plan in action first.
Joe Joyce – Olympic silver medallist and heavyweight contender
“I’m picking ‘Tank’ because I think he’s very patient when he’s fighting and he’s looking to land that big shot,” Joyce told talkSPORT.
“Whereas Ryan Garcia he’s the faster puncher and he’s going to be peppering him, but I think Tank will be patient and wait to nail him with something.
“I think it’s a 50/50 fight and it will be great to watch, but I think Gervonta Davis is edging it for me.”
Eddie Hearn – Boxing promoter
At first, Hearn tipped Tank on the DAZN Boxing Show, as he said: “He’s gonna get hit against Ryan Garcia, right? Ryan Garcia is very long, he has very fast hands.
“Where he [Davis] struggled a little bit against Hector Garcia with the range. Well Ryan Garcia has even more range than Hector Garcia, and he punches harder.
“I give Ryan Garcia a shot in this fight, no question about it. But if you’re asking me who wins, I say ‘Tank’ Davis.”
Later, however, in an interview with ESNEWS, Hearn did a U-turn with his prediction, saying: “I’m a big ‘Tank’ Davis fan. I really rate him as a fighter… He’s a special fighter.
“The problem is Ryan’s resume is quite weak in general… and ‘Tank’ I think has been in harder fights against better opposition on the bigger stages.
“But, the one thing I will say is, I’m quite surprised that the people in boxing that know them well give Ryan a fantastic chance in the fight. People like Devin [Haney] and Shakur [Stevenson] – they rate Ryan Garcia, so he’s obviously a tremendous fighter.
“I’m gonna go with Ryan Garcia. I’m gonna switch my pick.”
