Prior to his crucial clash with fellow lightweight contender Luke Campbell, Ryan Garcia joked in an interview with DAZN's Chris Mannix that while he needed to beat Luke Campbell on Jan. 2, he probably also needed to show some sort of vulnerability in order to lure the likes of Gervonta "Tank" Davis into agreeing to fight him.
And there was certain vulnerability on display in Dallas, as Garcia was dropped for the very first time by a Campbell left in Round 2. However, he picked himself up and shook the shot off admirably, before taking over and ultimately finishing the Brit with a killer body blow in the seventh.
Fans lapped up the thrilling, open fight, but soon after the final bell were wondering if Garcia would get away with such a loose style against champions such as Davis, Teofimo Lopez Jr. and the man he is now mandatory challenger to, Devin Haney.
In his post-fight interview on DAZN, Garcia certainly wasn't fearful of making those big bouts happen.
"Let's go Tank," he said of Davis. "Let's go, I'm ready.
"I want to fight Devin too. I want to be a man of my word and fight Tank, I know people are worried about that one but I'm ready for it."
Haney was in fact in attendance at the show, and he and Garcia were all smiles as they engaged in a brief chat after Garcia's validating victory.
Moments before Garcia came over, Haney gave some interesting quotes on the fight he just saw, and the prospect of defending his WBC title against the new interim champ.
“It was a good fight," said Haney. "He went in there, he got the win, but of course he got knocked down and showed some flaws, but he also showed that he had heart, and he got the win.
"Truthfully, I’ve seen a lot of flaws. Ryan is a good fighter and everything, but...
"That’s a fight that I would love to make. He’s my mandatory now. We’re gonna take the things we’ve got to do and fight my mandatory, and we gotta see if it happens.”
Haney's promoter Eddie Hearn took to Twitter following the bout and confirmed that Garcia vs. Haney is the immediate plan, meaning "The Flash" against "Tank" — if Davis would indeed sign up for that bout — would have to wait.
"You just boxed a final eliminator to fight [Haney]..fight will now be ordered - great fight," Hearn said.