Gervonta Davis vs Hector Luis Garcia Preview January 7th, 2023
Unbeaten WBA regular Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis of Baltimore, Maryland will be taking on undefeated WBA Junior Lightweight Beltholder Hector Luis Garcia of the Dominican Republic in Washington DC this Saturday, January 7th. The 12-round lightweight tilt between the two southpaws can be seen live in America on Showtime pay-per-view. Davis, who’s also a former WBA Super Lightweight and IBF and WBA Junior Lightweight Champion, last fought in May when he stopped Rolando Romero in the sixth round. Garcia last saw action in August when he beat Roger Gutierrez by a wide unanimous decision to win his title.
Davis vs Garcia Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Hector Luis Garcia +700
- Gervonta Davis -1250
My Pick
The 28-year-old ‘Tank’ Davis was a 2012 National Golden Gloves Champion as an amateur and enters the fight with a perfect mark of 27-0 with 25 big Ko’s. He’s fought just 114 rounds since turning pro back in 2013 due to his tremendous punching power and his knockouts over Romero, Leo Santa Cruz, Ricardo Nunez, Jesus Cuellar, Hugo Ruiz, Jose Pedraza and Liam Walsh were all exceptional. The southpaw has the talent and power to be a long-reigning champion if he manages to behave himself outside of the ring.
Davis currently has a knockout ratio of 92.6 per cent with the only two opponents to take him the distance as a pro being German Meraz when the pair went six rounds in 2014 and Isaac Cruz in December, 2021. However, Davis still managed to drop Meraz in both the third and fifth rounds. Davis stopped Jose Pedraza in the seventh round for the IBF Junior Lightweight (Super Featherweight) Title in January, 2017 and then defended it four months later in England when he stopped Liam Walsh in the third round. Davis’ first title reign came to an end in August, 2017 against Francesco Fonseca though when he failed to make weight.
However, he still fought and stopped Fonseca in the eighth round. He then won the WBA version against Jesus Cuellar in April 2018 and defended it against Hugo Ruiz and Ricardo Nunez. He won the vacant WBA Lightweight Belt in December, 2019 when he stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in the 12th round and defended it against Leo Santa Cruz a year later with a sixth-round stoppage before moving up in weight to stop Mario Barrios for the WBA Super Lightweight Title which he eventually vacated to move back down to lightweight. Davis stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and has a reach of 67.5 inches.
The 31-year-old Garcia carries around an impressive record of 16-0 with 10 Ko’s and also pretty good power in his fists a current knockout ratio of 62.5 per cent. He’s boxed just 91 rounds since turning pro in 2016 after a fine amateur career. Garcia measures in at 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 67-inch reach which means he has a four-inch height advantage on Davis and a minimal half-inch edge in reach. As an amateur, Garcia fought in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he was beaten by Dmitriy Asanau in the bantamweight division.
He won a silver medal at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games where he was beaten by Robeisy Ramirez in the final. He also captured silver at the 2015 Pan American Games and at the 2015 Pan American Championships where he lost to Andy Cruz of Cuba in both finals. Garcia has looked impressive in his last two outings with wins over Chris Colbert and Gutierrez. He’s also beaten the likes of Manuel Garcia, Rafael Hernandez, Antoni Armas, Leonel Lugo, Ronal Ron, Jose Luis Graterol and Miguel Moreno.
Garcia won the vacant WBA Fedelatin Featherweight Title in 2018 when he stopped Robin Zamora in the second round Oddly, Garcia has also fought to three no-contests against Marco Acevedo, Charlie Serrano and Alfonso Perez. He has quick hands and good mobility in the ring but his power hasn’t been very evident lately as he’s gone the distance in his last three outings and has just one stoppage in his last half dozen bouts.
Prediction…
Garcia shouldn’t be taken lightly as he’s a fine boxer with an aggressive style. However this bout is set for 135 lbs and he’s fought between 125 and 130 lbs so far during his career so it’s hard to predict if the weight gain will affect him at all. Still, his determination and style should cause a few problems for Davis. Even if Davis is slightly overrated, he has the edge here and it’s going to be an interesting fight and one I’m expecting Davis to triumph in.
Davis’ power may be the deciding factor once again.
Play: Davis -1250 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Gervonta Davis betting • Hector Luis Garcia betting