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Numerous outlets are now reporting that last Saturday’s Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia superfight crashed a super number of pay-per-view buys – over a million, in fact. That’s a huge number for any pay per view event, but it’s especially impressive in an era where boxing simply isn’t expected to bring in those kinds of figures. Once again a valuable lesson is learned, that boxing is «dead» only when whoever rules the ship allows it. When red-hot fighters in their primes are pitted against each other, people, even those who might not normally be inclined to do so, tune in.
The scheduled 12-round battle between Davis and Garcia on Saturday night in Las Vegas may not have been for a world title, but it wasn’t meant to be. Boxing’s current web of titles, rankings and mandatory fights has gotten so confusing that people have clearly started to fine-tune the mess, they just want big fights between good fighters. And that’s exactly what they got on Saturday. Young, undefeated, popular and successful, both Davis and Garcia were essentially in their prime when the opening bell rang. They were, without a doubt, people who dared to be great.
And, now that Davis has knocked Garcia out with a perfect body shot, most would agree that the Baltimore fighter has achieved at least some degree of greatness. Davis is now defined as the new face of boxing and one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Things like this happen when you emerge victorious from a match like the one that went down last weekend. The best way to produce a highly profitable star is to place a fighter in high profile bouts with serious competition. Davis’ team did it. Now, along with Davis himself, that team is reaping the rewards.
Events like the Davis-Garcia fight involve a lot of people. In this case, however, all the credit goes to the fighters themselves. Garcia and Davis, simply put, made it possible by forcing their teams to work together…an oddity in contemporary boxing. Then after the fight was done, each man worked hard to train and promote the deal. In the end, they fought decently. Garcia fell short, but had the moments of him and never let the battle get boring. Davis rightfully won the night, but both men deserve credit for turning their huge bout into an indisputable success.