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Davis must step up in key bout By DENNIS TAYLOR Herald Staff Writer
If he dazzles and demonstrates that he has moved to a new level, he'll be kept on as a full-time client of Salinas-based Garcia Boxing, the group that trains him, manages him, provides him with room and board, and pays his expenses. If not, he'll be encouraged to go home to East St. Louis, Ill. Those are high-pressure stakes for the 26-year-old junior middleweight, who will take an 18-3-2 record into the ring tonight against an opponent who, on paper, shouldn't be a problem. Juan Carlos Garcia is 7-6, with a four-fight losing streak. The prize for the winner will be something called the World Boxing Empire Intercontinental Championship. Co-featured in separate bouts will be popular San Jose light heavyweight Ricardo Cortez (14-1-1), heavyweight Dennis Weaver (9-4) -- younger brother of ex-world heavyweight champ Mike Weaver -- featherweight Jose Perez Jr. (5-0), a former Garcia Boxing protege, plus a cruiserweight fight. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets will be available at the door. "Ryan has been looking absolutely outstanding in the gym. I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm going to be very impressed -- but that wasn't the case three weeks ago," said Kathy Garcia, who manages Davis' career for Garcia Boxing. "Max (Garcia, Davis' co-trainer) told me he wasn't looking good in training, so I called Ryan and laid it on the line: I told him he needed to step it up big-time, or go back to East St. Louis and train there. We're not going to be satisfied with a win in this fight. He needs to prove to us that he's ready to move to a new level." The Garcias and co-trainer Don Familton won't be the only ones evaluating Davis. Kathy Garcia said he'll be watched tonight by a representative of Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which will be scouting him as a potential client, or possibly as an opponent for one of their current fighters. That's a significant opportunity for Davis, who, until he hooked up with Garcia Boxing, had been widely regarded as more of a club fighter than a prospect. He lost last year to Anthony Ivory, who was 29-70-4. He fought to a draw the previous year with a fighter who was 1-4. He joined Garcia Boxing full time to train with Max Garcia and Don Familton, and be managed by Kathy Garcia, hoping to become more consistent and more diligent, and to achieve his maximum potential. Davis said the terse conversation with Kathy Garcia came after two bad days of training at the LaBrea Boxing Gym, where he had been sparring with world-ranked Carlos Baldomir. "Baldomir is a tough guy; I was in a little bit of a slump -- the kind all athletes go through -- and he was basically backing me up in the ring. I wasn't looking good, and I knew it. I'm my own toughest critic," he said. "Kathy called and basically said, 'This is the time to do it,' and I agreed. We spoke on a Wednesday and the next day I got back on the ball." Since then, he reportedly has looked like a different fighter in training, and he fully expects to prove it tonight. "Yeah, there's pressure, because people want to see me shine. Hey, I want to see myself shine," Davis said. "But I'm 110 percent ready for this fight, physically, mentally and emotionally. I'm looking at this as the biggest fight of my career, and I guarantee it's not going to go past five rounds -- I absolutely guarantee it. I'm knocking this guy out, then I'm moving up, maybe with Golden Boy. If I don't, I'm going to have to to go find myself a 9-to-5 somewhere." The title belt, though from a fringe sanctioning body, also is meaningful to him. "It's a stepping stone. This belt is new, from a (sanctioning body) that popped up when the World Boxing Council was going under, and it's important to me," he said. "Whoever holds the belt is the person who makes the belt -- that's how I look at it. I plan on carrying it well, and hopefully it will be the first of many." |
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