Gervonta Davis’ coach, Kenny Ellis, says Tank will never fight Ryan Garcia again following the latter’s racial slurs on X.
Garcia posted a series of tweets, sparking outrage, with derogatory comments about African Americans, George Floyd, Christians and Muslims, to name a few groups. He later deleted the posts and apologised as he stated he would enter rehab. Garcia is struggling to deal with his current one-year ban from boxing. He defeated Devin Haney to secure his biggest win. However, the result became a no-contest after Garcia tested positive for Ostarine.
Despite attempting to prove his innocence, strict liability meant that Garcia was still responsible for what he put in his body. Ryan has previously been away from the sport for around two years, citing mental health. This was after beating Luke Campbell. Garcia’s mother is also dealing with breast cancer, while his family has condemned his racial comments, leaving the fighter with fewer fans than before. The WBC has also banned Garcia for his comments. Now, Davis’ coach has dismissed a rematch.
“We don’t want the rematch. Nope. Never. Tank will never fight him. He [Ryan Garcia] just [messed] up. [Forget] him. He knows what he did. He needs to go somewhere and see a shrink. [Forget] him,” Ellis said
That is a massive blow for Garcia, given how much interest the first fight had. It sold over 1.2 million PPVs, making it the highest-grossing boxing event of 2023. Garcia ended up losing via a seventh-round stoppage. However, he did state several factors prevented him from being his best. He claimed he was weight-drained due to the 136-pound catchweight and the ten-pound rehydration clause. Garcia also wanted to run things back to 140 or above.
Following the Haney win, there was serious momentum to do it. This was even after his failed VADA test for Ostarine as Davis backed Garcia. After Davis’ win over Frank Martin, Garcia was ringside requesting a rematch. Now, any big fights depend on Garcia keeping himself well outside the ring. Haney has stated that he wants to rematch Garcia after his suspension. His father, Henry Garcia, recently stated that his son is not talking to him as much. But Henry felt that even with the huge money on offer, Haney would not take the fight.
Garcia’s Future
“There ain’t going to be a rematch because they don’t really want it. They don’t know which way to go. First, they [Bill & Devin Haney] said, ‘No, I’ve been hurt.’ Now, they’re like, ‘Wait a minute. We can make more money. So, maybe we should say, let’s do the rematch.
“They don’t really know, but deep down inside, they don’t want it. It would be really bad [for Team Haney]. And maybe that’s why he wants the rematch because he [Haney] wants more money because his popularity went down. His stock went down. You know that. So, it’s like, ‘What else is there? Let’s make as much money as we can, and let’s get out,” Garcia said
