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Severe Dehydration, Seperated Rib and More: Ryan Garcia Reveals What Went Down During Gervonta Davis Fight

Published 03/24/2024, 4:36 PM EDT

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It’s been almost a year since Ryan Garcia was dealt his career’s first loss. Yet, the implications of that loss continue to lurk around him. As he prepares for, perhaps his career’s toughest fight against Devin Haney, he was quizzed on why he could not outperform Gervonta Davis in their Las Vegas fight.

In April last year, ‘KingRy’ struggled right from the beginning to inflict any damage on ‘Tank.’ While multiple people claimed that the fighter could have recuperated after he was dropped in the seventh round, he has now outlined the number of issues that played an active role in keeping him from victory. One among them was a significant shortcoming- the highly debated, rehydration clause. Was there more to that loss? Garcia explains.

Ryan Garcia believes boxing was boring before his Tank fight

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Multiple critics of the Garcia-Davis fight pointed out that the rehydration cause stipulated in their contract was unfair. However, Tank was adamant about it. He sought the clause arguing that Ryan Garcia was a bigger fighter than him and that the rehydration clause would make their showdown “fair.” Even Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya warned him against signing off on the clause. Despite the warning, he accepted the condition, Why?

On the Full Send Podcast, he explained, “I did everything I could to try to propel boxing forward. For that shit was boring as f*ck and nobody was fighting each other so, I took every clause you could think of.” Such measures restrict boxers from going beyond a certain weight between their weigh-ins and the fight.

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However, according to Garcia, it was not just the rehydration clause that marked his disadvantage. “I stepped into the ring with a separated rib, and this is not an excuse but I was severely dehydrated, so anything I got touched with, affected me in the ring when I was sparring. I had blisters all over my mouth, I had heat flashes at night, I was severely shaking at night, he revealed.

While that fight has passed, and the fighter has redeemed himself from the loss by defeating Oscar Duarte in December, he feels the fight was not in vain.

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Lost, But Gained a Lot

In the conversation, KingRy mentioned that the fight made him spiritually resilient. When one of the hosts argued otherwise, he responded by citing an area where he has gained a lot more. “I made $30 million that’s a win in itself,” replied Ryan Garcia. It was reported that despite losing the fight that night, Garcia went home significantly richer. He earned one of the highest paychecks of last year, $30 million.

Earlier, in another interview, he remarked upon what else he won after his last loss that night. He remarked, “When you’re going through a mental-health crisis, you don’t care about life. So, me trying to get back into the sport and trying to be myself, it was a hard process… And then after the Tank fight, I woke up. I was like, ‘No I’m different. I’m about to go and destroy everybody now’.”

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Despite the loss, Garcia continues to remain a significant name in the boxing scene. Will he be able to continue this reign with the Devin Haney fight too? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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Written by:

Mohammed Shafiulla

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Mohammed Shafiulla is a Boxing writer at EssentiallySports. With a Master’s degree in Journalism from a reputed institute, Shafi has cemented his position as one of the astute observers of boxing at ES. One of the early supporters of Naoya Inoue, Shafi has covered his transition from a Japanese boxer with a niche fan following to a power-punching global boxing star.
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Edited by:

Gokul Pillai