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In 1892 heavyweight champion John L Sullivan fought challenger James J Corbett in New Orleans. At stake was not just the heavyweight title, but twenty-five thousand dollars. He was truly a winner throughout the contest (one that the dapper Corbett won handily). Of course, today we don’t see winner take all scenarios like that. Except, apparently, we do. Per Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, who will meet in a legitimate superfight this weekend, have agreed to put all of their purses on the match. Considering both men will make millions, it’s a legitimate case of putting your money where your mouth is.
If, of course, the bet – which was made when both fighters appeared on a Kai Cenat live stream – turns out to be legitimate.
The truth is, fighters tend to say and do crazy things before big fights, and with good reason. The colorful antics command attention, and the attention eventually brings eyeballs via pay-per-view purchases. A top-end promotion shouldn’t be a quiet thing, and both fighters will want to cause a stir here. If the bet turns out to be legit, it could start a new trend, though that’s probably unlikely given that there were talks of bags that were worth literally millions and millions of dollars.
The fact is Davis, objectively speaking, made the wiser bet, as he should win Saturday’s race in Las Vegas. Still, it’s hard to count the hard-hitting and lightning-fast Garcia out here. The man can turn off the lights in a flash. Then again, so does Davis, whose unbeaten record indicates he stopped all but two of his opponents from range. Yet Garcia is nothing if not an extremely confident individual, and he seems to maintain that level of confidence heading into the biggest fight of his career.
Even if the winner-take-all bet turns out to be sizzler than steak, it’s good to see two top-level boxers do what they need to to sell a match. One of the problems with modern boxing is the often humdrum approach some promotions take. In a world of UFC and WWE, boxing has to keep up. Young, popular, and (social) media savvy Davis and Garcia know how things should be done right now. We hope others follow suit.
*featured image courtesy of DAZN