Former unified lightweight champion George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-2 (10) has congratulated Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis 28-0 (26) for his ninth-round knockout victory over Hector Luis Garcia 16-1 (10) at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Saturday night.
But the 29-year-old Australian warned Davis that he would have to rely on more than just his power when he meets up with the elite boxers in his division.
Baltimore’s Davis, 28, started off slowly in the first three rounds of his all-southpaw showdown against WBA super featherweight champion Garcia, landing just 12 punches in the first three round according to CompuBox.
In fairness, the 31-year-old Dominican wasn’t much more active, landing 14 blows during the same period.
Garcia boxed cleverly, using feints and footwork to keep the much shorter Davis on the outside and tagging him when he breached the distance. But as the rounds wore on Garcia increasingly opted to fight in close, giving Davis the opportunity to land his hard shots.
Late in the eighth Davis smashed an uppercut into Garcia’s right eye and when he returned to his corner he complained that he could not see. The bell rang to signal the start of the ninth frame but Garcia failed to come out of his corner. The official time of the stoppage was 0:13 of round number nine.
The fight appeared closer than the official scorecards that read 79-73 twice and 78-74.
Kambosos Jr lost his WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight titles to talented WBC champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 29-0 (15) in Australia in June by unanimous decision. The rematch four months later, also in Australia, ended in the same result.
The talent-rich 135-pound weight class boasts some of the best boxers in the sport. Davis is now expected to face popular contender Ryan Garcia 23-0 (19), who is ranked number three by The Ring magazine, on April 15.
While admitting he didn’t watch the entire fight, Kambosos offered Davis some suggestions going forward.
“Good on him. Congrats on the win. I saw bits and pieces of it. Supposedly, it was a very close fight until he got him out of there,” Kambosos Jr said to Fighthype.
“That’s the thing with Tank. Yes, he’s got that extraordinary one-punch power that stops people and takes them out, but he can get away with it now. Still, the higher-tiered fighters, the higher-calibre fighters, will be able to take them shots.
“How long will he leave the rounds before he gets outpointed? So, we’ll see. Ryan Garcia, that’s a great fight. Full respect for both of them for stepping up if they do get it done.
“Obviously, we know the politics in boxing. Sometimes, they don’t get done even though they said it’s done. It’ll be a great fight for boxing.”
Kambosos Jr’s next fight is yet to be announced.
