Gervante “Tank” Davis Wins in the Ring, But Stumbles in Real Life 

It’s been six years since the return of boxing to Washington, D.C. – a city with a smorgasbord of boxing legends like Sugar Ray Leonard, DeMarcus Corley, and Sharmba Mitchell.

The sport was welcomed with a fury in D.C.’s sold-out Capital One Arena with wins from two Maryland-based boxers Gervonta “Tank” Davis from Baltimore, Maryland, and on the undercard Demetrius Andrade from Laurel, Maryland. Davis won mercilessly against previously undefeated Hector Luis Garcia, a 31-year-old Dominican boxer, not far behind Davis’ standing with 10 knockouts (16-0-3). Davis remains undefeated (27-0, 25 KOs) after a TKO devastated with a straight left hand in the 8^th round. He has the highest knockout-to-win ratios in the sport with 27 knockouts. 

A crowd-pleaser Davis, 28, has been nicknamed mini-Mike Tyson for his rock-solid punching power. He began the fight with a steady slow pace, unrattled by Garcia’s height advantage and solid punches, and picked up steam by the fourth round knocking Garcia off balance with power shots. 

This win makes way for what fans have been calling for – a bout with Ryan Garcia who is seen as a real challenge to Davis’s power. The fight is set for April in Las Vegas – ranked one of the century’s biggest fights.

Davis is poised to become boxing’s next darling, that is if he doesn’t get in his own way. 

Six days before the fight he was arrested on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence against the mother of his child. Held on $1,500 bail he denied the allegations in a social media post.

“I never once hit her, yeah I was aggressive and told her come on…that’s the mother of my child I would never hit her.” He later deleted the post.

He also faces 14 charges pending in Circuit Court in Baltimore in February for alleged involvement in a hit-and-run crash and fleeing the scene in November 2020.

“I asked him, ‘What is your legacy?’” said his long-time coach and mentor Calvin Ford.

“You look at Gervonta he got to a point where he didn’t want to box anymore. He got back in the ring and got his thoughts together and I talked to him – I told him any things that happen to you, you have to be able to take it and make it positive because there’s a lesson behind it. He got it and he understands his purpose, I’m just waiting to see where he’s gonna take it.”