By Olu Allen
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis announced that he’d be returning to the ring in October to fight. He didn’t say who his opponent will be or which division he’ll be returning to Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, said he’d like to match Tank Davis against Ryan Garcia this year. However, as we know Ellerbe isn’t the one that calls the shots with Mayweather Promotions.
The grapevine has always had it that it is Floyd Mayweather Jr that hand-picks Tank Davis’ opposition, and he would likely be resistant to the idea of letting him fight Ryan. Instead of Tank having a 90% chance of winning, it would be closer to a true 50-50 fight.
Will Mayweather willingly put his golden goose Tank in jeopardy of being plucked by Ryan. Ryan can punch, and if he lands one of his bone-crunching left hooks on the chin of Tank, all the rating on PPV will collapse.
On Wednesday, Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) called out Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on social media, saying he wants the fight with him before the end of the year. Ryan will need to do a lot of talking to get Gervonta and his promoters to take the fight because he’s lost popularity due to him pulling out of his fight with Javier Fortuna. ‘King’ Ryan was scheduled to fight Fortuna on July 9th, but he then pulled out, saying that he had “anxiety” problems.
The attention that Tank Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) has attracted from the boxing world from his eleventh-round knockout win over WBA ‘regular’ 140-lb champion Mario Barrios last weekend has obviously renewed Ryan Garcia’s interest in fighting him.
Given that Mayweather Promotions will likely insist on Tank Davis’ next fight being on pay-per-view in October, they’ve got a big decision to make. Gary Russell Jr would be a good choice, but he would have to move from 126 to fight Tank at 130 or 135. If Mayweather Promotions wants to increase Tank’s chances of winning that fight, they’ll drag Russell Jr up to 140.
WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney would also be an excellent fight for Tank Davis at 135, particularly with him being a free agent. However, Haney isn’t a big name right now in comparison to the other fighters like Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez. It makes more sense for Mayweather Promotions to try and match Tank Davis with Ryan, Teofimo or Vasily Lomachenko than it does Haney.
Former WBA light welterweight champion Regis Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) would create more noise for Gervonta than Haney because he’s an excellent trash-talker and has been around for a while.
Prograis would help sell the Tank fight with his social media presence and his ability to drum up interest with interviews.
With that said, Progais is a much tougher fight for Gervonta Davis than the light-hitting Haney. It wouldn’t be easy for Gervonta to beat Prograis, and he might lose.
So, as we wait for who Mayweather will hand pick for his golden boy.
