Ryan Garcia Dares Gervonta Davis to Climb to 147 for Rematch

Ryan Garcia wants his rematch with Gervonta Davis, but he's set the terms: Tank has to move up two divisions to get it. Speaking to Ring Magazine, the 27-year-old WBC welterweight champion said a second fight with Davis is a bigger event than a rematch with Devin Haney — provided Davis, 30-0-1 with 28 knockouts, agrees to fight at 147lbs. If he's a man, Garcia argued, he'll come up. And when that happens, Garcia says, he'll win and set up a trilogy.

That's a lot of confidence from a man who ate a body shot and got stopped in the seventh round the last time these two met, in April 2023. Garcia now blames that defeat on a rehydration clause in the contract, and he's leaned into the size difference ever since. He's a full-fledged welterweight now; Davis is still officially a lightweight, sitting at #3 in the division and one of the sport's most feared finishers with that 28-KO tally.

Where Davis Actually Is

The catch is that Davis hasn't fought in over a year. His last outing was a controversial majority draw with Lamont Roach in March 2025 — a night where Roach was arguably robbed of a 10-8 round that would have handed him the win. Davis then faced domestic violence allegations later in 2025, and a planned exhibition with Jake Paul fell through. According to longtime advisor Al Haymon, Tank is targeting a return in the first half of 2027.

So Garcia is calling out a fighter who currently has no confirmed opponent, no date, and no announced weight class for his comeback. That's the state of the negotiation: a challenge issued into a vacuum. Whether Davis has any interest in surrendering his natural size advantage to chase a rematch he already won is another matter entirely.

The Fight in Front of Him

Before any of this becomes real, Garcia has actual business to handle. He defends the WBC welterweight strap against Conor Benn (25-1, 14 KO) on September 12. Benn is coming off a unanimous-decision win over Regis Prograis, and a loss here would blow up every hypothetical Garcia is currently floating.

It's also worth noting Garcia's own record isn't as clean as the swagger suggests. His majority-decision win over Haney in April 2024 was overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for ostarine, and he's since split with Rolando Romero and Mario Barrios — a loss and a win, respectively. Haney, meanwhile, has moved on and now holds the WBO welterweight title at 33-0 after outpointing Brian Norman Jr. The Davis rematch is a nice headline. Getting past Benn first is the real assignment.