Hector Luis Garcia admitted that he was unable to see towards the end of his lightweight clash against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
The pair fought on Saturday night in Washington, DC, for Davis’ WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title, and the eighth round in particular saw some heavy blows from the incumbent.
Davis had been in charge from the start against the super featherweight champion, and the unbeaten American had his opponent reeling at regular intervals.
A couple of powerful shots, Garcia revealed after the fight, meant he was unable to see. When he returned to his corner ahead of the ninth round, he made it clear to his team that his vision was not good enough for him to continue.
“When I got the shot to my head in the final round, that’s when I couldn’t see from my eye,” explained Garcia after the fight through a translator.
“I didn’t know where I was when he hit me with that shot. My vision is back but my head still hurts. I couldn’t see from my right eye. It was going well up until that point. I was picking my shots.”
Speaking after the fight Tank revealed he planned to fight former WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia in April, with Tank having taken Saturday’s fight as a tune-up fight.
Ryan Garcia has instead elected to forgo a chance at an interim bout in preparation for what will be the biggest fight of his career, and very possibly his toughest.