Gervonta Davis' win over Ryan Garcia could set up an even bigger fight
Gervonta Davis’ next steps: After dominating Ryan Garcia, will the self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’ fight Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson, Vasiliy Lomachenko or George Kambosos Jr.?
- Gervonta Davis beat Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas via a seventh-round TKO Saturday
- Now after fight at a catchweight, Davis has a few lucrative options at lightweight
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Gervonta Davis didn’t just beat Ryan Garcia with a seventh-round technical knockout on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
As the Baltimore native told Showtime’s Jim Gray, he became the ‘face of boxing.’
And even if Davis is exaggerating his star power, he at least proved himself as a pay-per-view headliner with the dominating victory – and that means a lucrative future of the 28-year-old.
Now, after his easy win over the previously undefeated Garcia at the 136-pound catchweight, Davis is expected to return to lightweight – perhaps boxing’s most talented division – where he’ll have no shortage of high-profile options for his next pay-per-view bout.
The question is: Who will Gervonta Davis fight next?
Gervonta Davis in the green and purple trunks reacts after defeating Ryan Garcia
Naturally, Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) didn’t have much of an answer after Saturday’s win.
‘Not right now, not right now,’ he told reporters. ‘Going back to the drawing board with my team. I’m gonna try and rest and hopefully we’ll come up with a good game plan in the next couple of months.’
Fortunately for Davis, a lot of these questions will be answered for him by several lightweight fights that have already been scheduled.
For starters, there’s the highly anticipated May 20 bout between Devin Haney, who owns all four major titles at lightweight, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasiliy Lomachenko.
The 35-year-old Ukrainian was considered one of the greatest amateur boxers in history before briefly dominating the lightweight division for two years beginning in 2018.
Then, in 2020, he lost a unanimous decision to Teófimo López, who was then upset by Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. the following year. Kambosos would go on to suffer back-to-back unanimous-decision losses to Haney, who many view as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing.
Devin Haney (L) and Vasiliy Lomachenko (R) pose during a recent press conference
Haney (right) beat Kambosos (left) twice, establishing himself as the champ at lightweight
George Kambosos Jr. is likely fighting in June, but could be a future opponent for Davis
But there’s another name at 135 pounds: Shakur Stevenson.
The 25-year-old Newark native is coming off an easy TKO win over Shuichiro Yoshino to improve to 20-0, and is considered by many to be the most talented fighter in the division.
Kambosos, meanwhile, is likely to fight Maxi Hughes next, although an exact date for their matchup has not been publicized.
Regardless of who he fights next, Davis appears to have secured his status as a pay-per-view headliner, and that would turn him into one of the sport’s biggest earners.
Davis’ purse for Saturday’s bout has not been revealed, but he already broke into seven-figure territory with a reported $1.5 million payday for his win over Hector Luis Garcia.
Coming off his win over the wildly popular Garcia, Davis should easily be able to exceed that figure by fighting Haney, Lomachenko, Stevenson, or Kambosos.
Shakur Stevenson is considered by many to be the most talented fighter at 135 pounds
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