Boxing’s “Big Fight” Drought is Over!
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 08 Mar 2023
Years ago it was nothing for a group of boxing fans to gather around the television set at home or at restaurant/bar to watch a “Big Fight” on a Saturday night.
What are “Big fights”? “Big Fights” are the fights anyone and everyone who watches boxing wishes to see. Statement such as, “I wanna see fighter A fight fighter B”. One Fan says, “I think fighter A would win over fighter B.” Another Fan says, “No way, fighter B would crush fighter A”. Talk like this by Boxing Fans is the proverbial “buzz” that causes a proposed fight among two fighters to evolve into what’s called a “Big Fight”.
Almost everyone who knows boxing or is a fan of boxing is talking about who they want to see fight each other. What comes to this writer’s mind from the past were fights such as Trinidad vs Vargas, Trinidad vs De La Hoya, Holyfield vs Lewis, Lewis vs Tyson, Whitaker vs Chavez, etc. The list goes on and on of what is labeled as a “Big Fight”. Boxing Fans know what I am talking about. Even the mainstream fans who are avid Baseball, Football, basketball fans, etc. will turn their attention to the “Big Fight” when it’s signed, sealed, and delivered on Pay Per View (PPV) on any given Saturday night.
Guess what? When the “Powers that be” give the fans what they want which is the “Big Fight” the Fans will buy the fights on PPV. The numbers don’t lie. Recently, Boxing fans have been deprived of the “Big Fight” on Saturday nights for quite some time. What also come to mind in recent memory were proposed “Big Fights” such as Wilder vs Joshua, Joshua vs Fury, Canelo vs Benavidez, and Crawford vs Spence. No one can truly say why these fights have not happened except to say that the fighters for those proposed fights have not put pen to paper and agreed to fight. Fighters get on social media and challenge each other. They make it seem as though they truly want to fight each other only to leave fight fans disappointed when they don’t deliver the “Big Fight” to the Fans.
There is some hope for Boxing because on April 22, 2023 two Boxing Stars have taken steps to end Boxing’s “Big Fight” drought! Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (23-0, 19KOs) and Gervonta “Tank” Davis (28-0, 26KOs) will deliver a “Big fight” fans have been craving. These two Boxing Stars will risk their undefeated records and careers by facing each other in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile arena. Why do Garcia and Davis fighting qualify their match as a “Big Fight”?
First, who is Gervonta “Tank” Davis?
Davis is the current WBA (regular) lightweight champion. He is 28 years old and is lock for the Boxing Hall Of Fame when he retires because he has already won world titles in three weight divisions (130lbs, 135lbs, 140lbs). Davis is a well-schooled fighter with good technique, power, speed, and has intelligence. He was formerly mentored and was promoted by retired Boxing Super Star and multi-division champion Floyd Mayweather. Davis has a social media following of about 3.4 million followers. Davis also sells out arenas when he fights. Davis, with the exception of Canelo, Tyson Fury, and the retired Mayweather (currently fighting exhibitions) is arguably one of the top PPV fighters in boxing today. Davis is the real deal.
Who is Ryan “KingRy” Garcia?
Garcia is undefeated and even though he hasn’t won a world title (previously was the WBC interim lightweight title), he is a boxing Star. Garcia has speed, punching power, good looks, and is an American of Mexican descent. On Social media he has about 8.9 million followers. If Garcia can defeat Tank he will become the heir apparent to Canelo Alvarez as the future face of boxing.
Regardless of who wins the matchup between Garcia vs Davis, on paper it promises to be a good fight. This fight will likely do between 1 million-2 million PPV buys. All the credit to both these two young fighters as they could have picked fringed contenders to fight while collecting a big pay check and giving fight fans boring fights. Many are picking Davis to defeat Garcia because he has fought the better competition and is the more accomplished fighter. Garcia can’t be dismissed as an easy victory for Davis because Garcia has the physical tools to defeat Davis. Garcia has height, reach, speed, power, and is also intelligent. What make this fight so interesting is no one truly knows who will come out the victor. No matter who wins on April 22, 2023 because Davis and Garcia are willing to fight each other Boxing’s “Big Fight” Drought is over.
Boxing Notes
According to Internet reports, Crawford vs Spence was quietly negotiated (unlike the first negotiation) and the two reportedly will fight in June 2023. Really? Let’s hope so as NO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCMENT from Promoter PBC has been made. If it’s true it would explain why Spence-Thurman has not been announced and would also make financial sense for Both Spence and Crawford. Who else can each fighter to make a lot of money if not against each other?
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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