By Aria Brent,
AFRO Staff Writer

On the evening of April 22 fans tuned in to see two of boxing’s most prominent athletes go toe-to-toe at theT-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Gervonta Davis faced off against Ryan Garcia. Davis emerged victorious with the 29th win of his career. Garcia went down after being floored in the second round and finished off with a shot to the body in the seventh round.

Prior to the fight, both of the young boxers placed a bet that the winner would take all of the money from the fight but Davis’ then doubled back on this graciously and allowed Garcia to take his share of the earnings.

“He can take the money, he can take it,” Davis told reporters at his Showtime post-fight press conference. 

Davis is a native of Baltimore and loads of locals tuned in to see the hometown favorite fight. Having yet to be defeated, the event was highly anticipated. However, the people of Baltimore had mixed responses to the champion’s most recent win.

The match was called in Davis’ favor after the body punch caused Garcia to go down and left him unable to get back up in time.

“I’m happy for him. If you want to be technical, he shouldn’t have won that fight, but I understand how he won that fight,” said Jessica Long, a Baltimore native and avid sports fan. 

Although many were excited to see Davis continue his undefeated record, they seem to want more from the boxer. Having never lost a fight in his professional career, a Davis win is expected by many– but some residents say they’d like to see him use his success to give back to the city. 

“With him being from Baltimore, I’m proud of him. But I want to see him do more interacting with the youth. It’s a bad time right now for the youth,” stated Allen Void, a life-long Baltimore resident. “He did his thing and I’ll give him all the applause for the fight, but I need him to be more in his community. Teach the kids some discipline.”

The young athlete’s talent is undeniable and has been catching Charm city’s attention for some time now. 

Davis got his start at Upton Boxing Center on Baltimore’s east side and has been training there since the age of five. 

Jeffrey Passero, a trainer at MobTown Fight Club, recalled seeing Davis years ago.

“I saw one of his first fights, it was at Michael’s Eighth Avenue, around 2011,” said Passero. “I think Gervonta Davis is a great fighter. He’s really, really good.”

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