Garcia, Davis put their purse on the line
Las Vegas: Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia are all-in on this weekend’s super fight, with the American duo betting the entire AU$2.75m (FJ$4.08m) purse on their highly-anticipated Las Vegas war. World Boxing Association (regular) lightweight champion ‘Tank’ Davis boasts a 28-0 record with a remarkable 26 KOs, making him the favourite and the firm A-side for the clash with California star Garcia (23-0 with 19 KO’s). But the pair are appar
ently both so confident of victory in the 12-rounder at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday (Fiji time) that they’re willing to lay down their entire guaranteed earnings in a bet over the result.
Davis was hosting an Instagram Live video with nearly 200,000 fans watching on as he chatted with YouTuber Kai Cenat. Garcia joined the video from his car in a bizarre take on pre-fight promotion, with the pair trading a series of barbs and counterclaims.
Davis then made a bold – and possibly costly – move when he challenged his rival: “Yo, you wanna bet?” Garcia replied: “Yeah, let’s do it … I’m down.” Davis made clear he wasn’t messing around, saying:
“The whole purse?” But Garcia didn’t back down, responding: “Let’s do it. The whole purse.” He added: “You hear me on the live, let’s go, let’s make a contract, let’s sign it, both of us.”
Davis then looked to jump on the phone to get a contract for the bet nailed down, as Cenat danced around the room yelling: “We about to get paid!” Davis is guaranteed AU$1.5 million (FJ$2.23m) for the fight according to ‘Sporting Payouts’, while Garcia – the younger fighter – is expected to earn AU$520,000 (FJ$772k).
The PPV share, meanwhile, is split 60-40 to Davis, and could see the pair earn another combined $5m USD (FJ$11m).
As the duo continued, Garcia lashed out, saying: “When you get knocked out by me, I don’t want to hear you talk nothing. I’m not even talking to you. “Let’s go, Gervonta. You’re going to feel me in the ring. When it’s real, you’re going to feel me, I promise you.”
Davis replied: “I don’t care about that. You don’t have no skills. You don’t have nothing.”