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‘Little Stupid Tank’ – Ryan Garcia calls out Gervonta Davis for rematch but has one condition

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Gervonta Davis

Ryan Garcia wants to run it back with Gervonta Davis.

‘King Ry’ suffered the first and to date only defeat of his professional career to Davis in April 2023 when he was stopped with a brutal body shot in the seventh round.

In order to get the fight over the line, Garcia agreed to compete at a catchweight of 136lbs while he also signed off on a 10lbs rehydration clause that the 25-year-old claims left him extremely drained.

After defeating Devin Haney on Saturday night, Garcia took to social media to call for a second fight with Davis.

However, the California boxer insisted it can only happen on the condition that they agree to a 144lbs catchweight.

“Everyone wanna talk about the little Stupid tank,” Garcia tweeted on Tuesday.

“Let’s fight, [enough] of that funny talk. Come see me at 144[lbs] and [let’s] stop the talk.”

Garcia dropped Haney three times en route to a majority decision victory at the Barclays Centre in New York.

Yet he was unable to pick up Haney’s WBC super-lightweight title after coming in 3.2lbs over the 140lbs limit.

Garcia affirms he will never fight at super-lightweight again and has teased a move to 147lbs after insisting his body can’t get below 143lbs anymore.

Davis faces Frank Martin at lightweight on June 15 and has never fought above super-lightweight during his career.

It is unlikely he will accept Garcia’s demands but that won’t matter too much for ‘The Flash’ who still has plenty of big fights on the horizon.

Naming his hit list during a recent interview with talkSPORT.com, Garcia said: “Teofimo Lopez, Shakur Stevenson and the Gervonta Davis rematch.

“But I also wanna do Sean O’Malley as a crossover MMA thing.

“That would break UFC PPV records.

“It is gonna be in the cage, there’s no other way I would do it other than me in the cage going against Sean O’Malley and ripping off his head.

“I don’t want a flat fee, I just want a percentage of the PPVs, that’s it.”

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BOXING

Terence Crawford vs. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis: HE Turki Alalshikh’s Declaration May End Sebastian Fundora Rat Race

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Jaron Ennis has been wanting a clash against Terence Crawford for quite a while. After inheriting Crawford’s IBF interim welterweight title, ‘Boots’ Ennis called him out for a fight but to no avail. However, he might just get his dream matchup following the declaration from His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. However, that’s not all this potential fight would do!

Earlier today, talkSport editor Michael Benson revealed that the WBO will sanction ‘Bud’ Crawford’s August 3 bout against Israil Madrimov for the super welterweight interim title, including Madrimov’s WBA super welterweight title. And! The winner will fight Sebastian Fundora, who will look to defend his recently acquired WBO and WBC super welterweight title. However, His Excellency’s declaration could prove disastrous for Fundora.

On April 22, Benson took to X, sharing insights from Alalshikh’s new ambition to make the fight between Terence Crawford vs. Jaron Ennis. Benson wrote, “His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has declared that he will try to make Terence Crawford vs Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis this year.” It means if Crawford wins against Madrimov on August 3 during Alalshikh’s debut event in America, he will have the option of facing Ennis or Fundora.

It leaves Fundora in an especially precarious position, as he is currently not allowed to fight until December because he suffered a broken nose in his last outing. And if he decides to fight someone else in December or Crawford chooses Ennis as his right to do as the “super” champion, Fundora can either relinquish the belt or the WBO has the right to strip him of it.

That’s not all! Crawford seems to have made a home in Alalshikh’s mind because there are more potential fights His Excellency wants Crawford to be part of.

The Saudi Royal’s vision: Bringing the best together 

If there was one person in the boxing world who has the power to make the most impossible fight possible, it has to be the Saudi royal. Just look at his track record, and the upcoming fights slated for May. However, he seems to have been concocting many more such events between other heavy hitters in the industry.

According to a tweet from Benson on April 22, “His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has revealed that he has plans in mind for both Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez, but not fighting each other. He said he wants Benavidez to challenge the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol winner and would like to make Canelo vs Terence Crawford.”

That being said, only time will tell whether Terence Crawford chooses to acquire Sebastian Fundora’s belt to get close to undisputed in yet another weight division or give Jaron Ennis what he was looking for. Who do you think Crawford should fight after Madrimov?

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BOXING

Terence Crawford to face Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis this year if Turki Alalshikh manages to make it happen

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Terence Crawford

Boxing fans around the globe have been eagerly awaiting this fight, and with the help of an efficient mastermind, there is a great chance it could happen.

Saudi Royal Court member Turki Alalshikh has a real shot at organizing the highly anticipated Terence Crawfordvs. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis fight. Although many boxing fans have long awaited this matchup, there are still details to iron out.

His Excellency faces some challenges in the near future because Crawford is set to face Israil Madrimov this summer. This fight is believed to be scheduled in Los Angeles, California, on the first weekend of August. Terence, a welterweight champion, will gain up to 7 more pounds to challenge Madrimov in the super welterweight division, moving from 147 to 154 pounds.

If this fight occurs and Crawford maintains his undefeated status (40-0, 42 KOs), everything points to a bout against ‘Boots’, even though he has never shown much excitement to face Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs). However, given that Terence Crawford would fight in August, there is a possibility he might not step into the ring until 2025.

Is ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in the plans of His Excellency?

Another fight that Turki Alalshikh is looking to set up involves Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who will be battling Jaime Munguia on Saturday, May 4. Regardless of the outcome, ‘Canelo’ could face Terence Crawford soon. Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) has his eyes set on another fight in 2024, which would prevent a meeting with Crawford this year. However, with a short list of adversaries, His Excellency will be looking to capitalize on the success of the Mexican boxer early next year.

Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs), on the other hand, could suffer a significant blow to his career if he falls to ‘Canelo’, especially after not performing as well as everyone expects, based on average exhibitions in his recent fights.

More details about Crawford’s next two opponents will be revealed after this summer.

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BOXING

Oleksandr Usyk team fear Tyson Fury will PULL OUT of undisputed bout again and have replacement lined up to step in

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OLEKSANDR USYK already has a replacement lined up in case Tyson Fury pulls out of their Saudi straightener.

Usyk and Fury, 37 and 35 respectively, will throw down for all the heavyweight marbles next month in the division’s first undisputed bout in nearly 25 years.

The pair’s dust-up has fallen through THREE TIMES already, collapses which have prompted Team Usyk to draw up a contingency plan in mandatory IBF title challenger Filip Hrgovic in case the Riyadh Rumble crumbles again.

The Ukrainian’s promoter Alex Krassyuk told Boxing Scene: “Usyk has actually had a triple camp for this fight.

“He started in September for the fight to take place last December.

‘We showed up to the Ngannou fight to step in the ring to announce the fight for the undisputed.

“But his team jumped and said he didn’t look that good, so Usyk gave him some space to prepare at his camp in Saudi Arabia.

“We were then meant to fight on February 17, then we were rescheduled for May. Tyson Fury has withdrawn four times already from this fight.

“I’ve not got too much confidence in the rematch happening, by the way.

“If Tyson Fury loses, will he have the confidence to step inside the ring again?

“Theoretically he can, but we all know what happened in the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.

“The IBF mandatory Filip Hrgovic will be the replacement if [Fury] does it again.

“He is getting ready for Daniel Dubois on June 1, but instead he will have to be ready on May 18 to replace Tyson for any reason.

“Otherwise we will lose the [IBF] title. It was one of our conditions.”

Fury and Usyk were supposed to do their long-awaited dance in February but the bout ended up being postponed after the former suffered a horror cut in the final spar of his training camp.

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BOXING

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is among the THREE fights that Turki Alalshikh wants to make… as Saudi boxing chief also eyes up Canelo Alvarez super-fight

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Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has revealed the three fights he wants to make happen – including a bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

As it stands, Fury is currently preparing for his undisputed world heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk next month, while ‘AJ’ has just beaten Francis Ngannou.

However, despite their previous or upcoming arrangements, fans have continued discussing a potential bout between the two – with Turki Alalshikh also offering his view.

During an ‘Ask Me Anything Q&A’ on Reddit, Alalshikh revealed the three bouts that he’d like to organise in the future – having played a big role in boxing’s current landscape.

Alalshikh claimed that Fury vs Joshua, Terence Crawford vs Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez vs Artur Beterbiev are the three fights he’s keen to make happen.

Given Alalshikh’s power over the sport of boxing, it’s more than likely that some – if not all – of those bouts come to fruition later in the year.

The Saudi boxing chief has already orchestrated Fury’s upcoming bout with Usyk, as well as Joshua’s victory over former UFC champion Ngannou.

Last month, Alalshikh teased a ‘huge’ show at Wembley for later this year – with many suggesting it could be the bout between Joshua and Fury.

He said: ‘I’m talking, thinking and studying with Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn to do something huge in Wembley in the third quarter as a commercial for Riyadh Season.

Just one week before his comments, Eddie Hearn revealed that Joshua and Fury could sign a two-fight deal to finally face each other.

‘This is a gentleman called Turki Alalshikh, who is obviously a very influential figure in sports and entertainment in Saudi Arabia,’ Hearn said on The Sports Agents podcast.

‘He’s also the biggest fight fan I’ve ever met. And quite amazingly, he’s now talking about staging two Fury vs AJ fights – one in Saudi Arabia and one at Wembley Stadium.’

Joshua and Fury have both fought at Wembley before, experiencing some of their best nights in boxing at the iconic venue.

AJ beat Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley in 2017, rising from the canvas to stop the Ukrainian in the 11th round of a back-and-forth contest.

He returned the following year to knock out Russia’s Alexander Povetkin in the seventh round.

Fury was also victorious at the national team stadium as he beat fellow Brit Dillian Whyte in 2022.

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BOXING

After his victory, Ryan Garcia challenges Gervonta Davis: He won’t give me a rematch because I’m moving up

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Ryan Garcia pulled off a huge feat on Saturday, April 20 (after he missed weight and lost his chance to challenge for the WBC super lightweight title) by putting on a great showing to defeat Devin Haney in a thrilling fight held at the Barclays Center in NY.

Garcia even felt emboldened and issued a challenge to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who knocked him out in 2023 and took away his undefeated record in a resounding manner in another blockbuster fight involving the 25-year-old.

After the fight, Garcia (25-1, 21 KO) assured that he does not expect a rematch against Davis and that is why he will not even try to fight at 140 pounds and, instead, will go straight to the welterweight division.

“I don’t think Tank is going to beat Frank Martin, but if he did, he wouldn’t fight me because I’m moving up,” Garcia told journalists. “I’m not going to 140, I’m going to 147.

“I can’t go to 140. Technically I’ve never fought at 140. My body literally can’t go below 143, it’s impossible. I’ve tried every technique. The only way he’s going to fight Tank Davis is at fixed weight, okay? 145, 144, just like they did to me. Now he’s the man, now he’s the face of boxing.”

For his part, Davis is scheduled to fight Frank Martin, who is trained by Derrick James, Garcia’s current trainer, at lightweight in June.

Ryan Garcia’s upset win over Devin Haney

Garcia surprisingly defeated Haney with a majority decision, in a bout mired in controversy as King Ry lost his shot at Haney’s super lightweight title by missing the 140-pound limit.

Despite the weight difference, Haney accepted the fight and was knocked down three times to lose his unbeaten record for the first time in 32 bouts as Garcia surprised Haney with a powerful left hook in the first round.

The champion tried to recover, but again in the seventh round he went to the canvas again and for the third time in the tenth and eleventh rounds, when he cornered him with a right jab and knocked him down with a left.

In the end, the verdict favored the Mexican-American on cards 114-110, 115-109 and 112-112 in a verdict that even fell short, after Garcia lost a point for hitting his opponent after the bell in the seventh round.

At the weigh-in, Garcia taunted his opponent for missing weight by 3.2 pounds and even drank a beer over the scales, showing he didn’t mind missing his commitment. In addition, he had to pay $1.5 million dollars to his opponent for the overweight.

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BOXING

Gervonta Davis issues warning to Ryan Garcia after Devin Haney victory

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Following his huge win against Devin Haney on Saturday night, Ryan Garcia received an unexpected piece of advice from his old rival, Gervonta Davis, who urged Garcia to retire from boxing. Garcia shocked the boxing world with an impressive performance, flooring Haney three times and ultimately winning on points.

From the first bell, Garcia dominated the fight, hurting Haney with a left hook in the opening round. Despite Haney‘s efforts in the following rounds, Garcia continued to assert his dominance, stunning Haney again in the sixth round and knocking him down for the first time in his career in the seventh.

Garcia sealed his victory with two more knockdowns in rounds 10 and 11, securing a triumph that few had predicted. However, as Garcia missed weight before the fight, he did not claim Haney’s belt with the win.

Issued warning to Garcia

Despite his ongoing feud with Haney, Davis expressed his joy at seeing Haney lose. However, this didn’t stop him from taking a jab at Garcia as well.

“It’s best Ryan retire now,” Davis noted in a tweet that has been deleted.

“He gonna get hurt bad.”

Davis’s comment likely stems from Garcia and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya discussing a potential rematch with Davis during their post-fight press conference.

“I don’t think Tank’s gonna beat Frank Martin, but if he did, he wouldn’t fight me because I’m moving up,” Garcia said.

“I’m not doing 140, I’m going 147. I can’t make fuckin’ 140. I’ve never even technically fought at 140. My body can’t literally go lower than 143, it’s impossible. I’ve tried every technique.”

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BOXING

Andy Ruiz appears to confirm long-awaited return date and could appear on Terence Crawford undercard

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Andy Ruiz

Andy Ruiz has hinted that his two-year hiatus from the ring could soon be over.

‘The Destroyer’ hasn’t fought since defeating Luis Ortiz on points in November 2022, and has been rather frozen out of the world title mix with the division’s activity booming in the Middle East.

Ruiz previously held talks with Deontay Wilder last year over a WBC title eliminator, but it didn’t materialise and he was left without an opponent once again.

Reports from Mexico indicated that the former unified world champion was set to return on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s potential clash with Israil Madrimov which is planned for August 3.

And in his biggest hint yet that he is back this summer, Ruiz has responded to a social media post regarding the reported return date with a pair of eyes emoji.

He also went on to repost a fan’s tweet which read: “It’s about time man, they forgot about The Destroyer.”

Crawford’s return has already been signed, according to reports from ESPN, with ‘Bud’ seen posing alongside promoter Eddie Hearn and Saudi Boxing Chief H.E. Turki Alalshikh.

It appears now that Ruiz could take advantage of Middle East revolution in the sport by competing on a card, although an exact rival has yet to be confirmed.

The 34-year-old has fought just three times since being beaten by Anthony Joshua in November 2019, where he lost his belts as quick as he had won them.

Ruiz laboured to a points win over Chris Arreola in November 2021, before beating Ortiz one year afterwards.

He has looked in brilliant fighting shape after making a remarkable weight transformation, and could play a key role in the heavyweight landscape moving forwards.

His ex-coach, Manny Robles, agrees and has suggested that he should take any opportunity presented to him in a thriving time for the division.

“I think he would fight in this Saudi Arabia world title mix,” Robles said. “But where is Andy? That is the question.

“But he should come back and take advantage of this opportunity that has been given to all the heavyweight fighters.

“The opportunity to fight in Saudi Arabia and get in the mix, all these great heavyweight champions fighting each other.

“A loss should not determine the career of a fighter, I don’t think he should be judged by that defeat.”

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BOXING

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury and Canelo Alvarez super fight among top three fights Turki Alalshikh wants to make

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Anthony Joshua

Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh is determined to work with all of the sport’s biggest stars.

The Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority is the most influential man in boxing right now and has been putting on cards for the last 12 months that would otherwise be the stuff of fantasy.

Alalshikh is the driving force behind the upcoming undisputed heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on May 18.

And he most recently funded Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou’s crossover clash in March.

Yet despite already playing host to some of the biggest boxing events of the decade so far, H.E continues to strive for more.

During a ‘Ask Me Anything Q&A’ on Reddit, Alalshikh revealed the top three fights he hopes to make in the future; Fury vs Joshua, Terence Crawford vs Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez vs Artur Beterbiev.

British boxing fans will be relieved to see Fury vs Joshua on Alalshikh’s list.

The heavyweight titans have attempted to make the fight on several occasions to no avail.

It appears the biggest stumbling block facing the all-British showdown in the past was money.

However, that shouldn’t be a problem with Saudi Arabia involved.

Crawford vs Canelo is a rogue pick given that both men compete three weight classes apart.

Canelo is the undisputed super-middleweight champion while Crawford previously held all four belts at welterweight.

‘Bud’ is expected to move up to super-welterweight in his next fight but is still massively undersized.

A catchweight would likely have to be agreed between both boxers for the fight to happen.

Beterbiev vs Benavidez weighs heavily on whether the former wins his upcoming four-belt shootout with Dmitry Bivol on June 1.

Benavidez is boxing Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a WBC light-heavyweight final eliminator on June 15.

Should he win that fight he will be in a primed position to challenge whoever emerges victorious out of Bivol and Beterbiev.

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BOXING

Bob Arum Opposed to Six Judges for Oleksdandr Usyk-Tyson Fury

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OLeksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has a hot proposition for the “Ring of Fire” fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

With the undisputed heavyweight title on the line in the blockbuster fight, Sulaiman wants to avoid a potential judging catastrophe by instituting six judges instead of the customary three.

Sulaiman sent an emergency petition last month to the WBO, WBA and IBF, as well as Fury and Usyk and their promoters, requesting a green light for the six-judge panel.

Bob Arum, Top Rank’s CEO and Fury’s co-promoter, is opposed to the idea.

“You don’t put in something like that for the first time dealing with a major fight from the standpoint of visibility and importance,” Arum told BoxingScene.

“Maybe six judges are better than three. I doubt that, but maybe. Nobody knows because it hasn’t been done. But at least you experiment with that with fights that are not as prominent. With all due respect to my friend Mauricio – who’s a really good guy, loves the sport of boxing and has done a great job with the WBC – I wouldn’t do it for this fight. I wouldn’t say that you don’t experiment with it for another fight. I don’t believe the judging becomes better because you have six judges rather than three.”

Sulaiman believes that if more judges score the fight, there will be less probability of silly and controversial scorecards should a judge have a bad night.

Frank Warren, Queensberry Promotions’ boss and Fury’s co-promoter, has separately dismissed the idea of six judges.

As Sulaiman waits for the blessing of his idea, he recently had Pope Francis personally bless and sign a WBC commemorative belt that will be awarded to the winner.

Fury and Usyk will have a rematch regardless of the result, and Arum noted it could take place as early as October for the opening of Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia.

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