Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia was easily one of the biggest boxing fights this year. The fight was one to watch with both fighters in great form and arguably in their prime. As such, not only did fight fans and A-list celebrities show up, but many (like Drake) were also keeping tabs on the proceeding from home.
On the night, fans were treated to a spectacular contest. While the highlight of the card was obviously the main event, there were some good fights in the undercard as well. As for the main event itself, “Tank” took on Garcia in a fight that had everything fans could ask for. For the most part, both fighters fought at a lightning-fast pace, showing some top-level boxing.
🔝 of the food chain.@Gervontaa remains undefeated after landing a brutal body shot on Garcia.#DavisGarcia: https://t.co/J1sJioEZ97 pic.twitter.com/nAmWzmjmbP
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 23, 2023
Eventually, Davis, who had been the better fighter for the majority of the fight, closed it out in Round 7. Notably, Davis delivered a devastating and paralyzing body shot. Interestingly, the body shot was so fast that it even took Ryan Garcia some time to realize that he had been hit. Eventually, “King Ry” had to take a knee before revealing that he could no longer continue.
Thus, Davis was declared the winner by TKO in Round 7. Having knocked down Garcia in the second, Davis had also built a steady lead as per the judges’ scorecards. With the event being a massive success, many wondered about how many PPV buys it has brought in. Previously, Oscar De La Hoya predicted that the fight could break the 2.4 million buys in his fight with Floyd Mayweather.
Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia PPV Buys
While many touted the fight to be the ‘fight of the year’, it will be interesting to see how the fight sells. According to sources, the live gate for the fight was an excess of $10 million. However, this is not surprising, considering that the cheapest seats at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas were worth more than $500.
On the other hand, the PPV also went for $85 a pop, making it a relatively expensive PPV to purchase. Thus, times have changed and PPV buy rates are on a downward spiral. A key example is Canelo Alvarez‘s trilogy against Gennadiy Golovkin. Previously, the first two fights between Canelo and GGG exceeded a million buys. However, their last bout in 2022 only managed 550,000 on DAZN.
That’s sportsmanship right there 🤝 🙌@Gervontaa @RyanGarcia #DavisGarcia pic.twitter.com/DM371HOzkJ
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 23, 2023
Unfortunately, it would be less than the supposed 775k PPV buys Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury did. According to Stephen Espinoza, the head of Showtime Sports, there is a key reason for the decreasing number of PPV buys. “The biggest has been piracy. No question that is definitely depressing the number of sales”.
Further, he points out that Canelo vs Plant was the biggest fight on domestic soil in recent history which saw 800k buys. Similarly, Wilder-Fury 3 came in a little below that. Thus, with this continuous downward trend, Espinoza would be surprised and amazed if Davis vs Garcia reaches 800k buys. Did you watch the fight? Let us know your thoughts on the performances of Gervonta and Ryan in the comments down below.