Fernando ‘Ferocious’ Vargas says he would like to see Ryan Garcia and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis let their clash marinate more to pump it up to create more interest and make more money before fighting.
Vargas, who is no stranger to taking fights earlier than he should have in his career, feels that the unbeaten King Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) and WBA 135-lb champion Tank (24-0, 23 KOs) could build their fight into a Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao type of money-maker if they waited.
The former IBF/WBA light middleweight champion Vargas doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Ryan and Tank Davis to be fighting during the pandemic when the chances to make big money are reduced
Vargas says that the casual boxing fans aren’t yet familiar with Ryan and Tank, only the hardcore boxing fans. That’s even more of a reason to wait and let their fight build.
The only problem is, Ryan, 22, wants to retire by the time he’s 26-years-old, and he doesn’t have a lot of time to get in all the big fights that he wants.
Fernando Vargas: It’s too early for Garcia – Tank
“I think Ryan [Garcia] did amazing and he’s going to be here for a while,” Vargas said to Fighthype about Ryan Garcia’s win over Luke Campbell. “That’s a true champion.
“You get knocked down, you get back up and you fight and win. In my fight against Wilfredo Rivera, he knocked me down.
“After I was knocked down five times against Felix Trinidad, I went down, and got back up to fight and win and stopping him [Rivera]. So the fight isn’t over when you get knocked down. The fight is over when you stay down.
“I would like that fight to be more pumped up because they can make a lot of money,” said Vargas on the Ryan vs. Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fight.
“I don’t think it should be right away because you’re not going to get paid that much in this time right now because of the pandemic.
“It could be a huge fight later on like Pacquiao – Mayweather, just like that. It could get to that level if they do it right. If they continue to fight and they’re successful in doing it.
I definitely think they can make it that kind of fight, but it’s a little too early. I don’t know if everyone knows Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, and I don’t know if everyone knows Ryan Garcia. Only boxing fans know who they are,” said Vargas.
The Davis vs. Ryan fight makes sense to take place right now because the winner of the match will be instantly popular, and will be able to make good money from that point on in their careers.
We’ve already see Tank fighting as a professional for eight years, and he’s still not become a huge star on the level of Pacquiao or Mayweather. If Tank beats Ryan, it’ll increase his star power and potentially a PPV attraction.
Fight to be announced real soon… 🥊
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) January 18, 2021
Ryan’s chances of superstardom are arguably greater than Tank’s because he’s got the social media following. Additionally, Ryan is a tremendous communicator, and he has the ability to hype his fights with his trash-talking. Ryan has an upfront, honest way of talking that appeals to fans.
Fernando wishes he’d waited before taking Trinidad
“So when they go mainstream, it’s super huge. I retired at almost 29,” said Fernando when told that Ryan Garcia plans on retiring at 26.
“I understand because after a while you get tired of it. You get tired of the sport. Me, I loved it since I was a kid.
I was able to do big things as an amateur and as a professional, but I started at 12. If that’s what he [Ryan Garcia] wants to do, it’s what you want to do in your career. It’s not anyone stepping in but you.
They can advise you and tell you, but if you want to retire because you’re tired. He probably started to box when he was eight-years-old. I know he had a lot of amateur experience too.
“You don’t need to jump into those big fights right away. For what?” said Vargas about Ryan. “Yes, we go for the glory and the belts, it’s the money that is going to be in your pocket.
“If I didn’t take the big fights right away, I probably could have lasted a little while longer. If I had waited three more years before fighting Trinidad, it would have been a huger fight and I probably could have beat him.
“I would have gotten more experience. Even though I lost to him, me getting knocked down five times and getting up five times, I was in the fight until almost to the very end,” said Vargas.
If Fernando had waited four years before fighting Trinidad in 2005, he would have caught him at the very end of his career after he’d been beaten by Bernard Hopkins and Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright.
By that point in Trinidad’s career, he was blowing up between fights and looking heavy. It wasn’t the same guy who beat Oscar De La Hoya and many others early on.
Fernando Vargas had nothing left when he retired
“I retired because I had nothing left,” Vargas continued when asked if fighters like Devin Haney, Tank, and Ryan should retire young like him.
“They have a lot left. So it depends on them, how they feel. I had nothing left and by then I was already tired of it. I retired early, and I’d already fought the great fighters.
“It was tough on me, but the fans love me still. They’re so young and I wish they would hype it up. That way it could be huge.
“Look, like Mayweather-Pacquiao. Everybody was saying that Mayweather was scared, he’s a chicken, this and that. He’s the best fighter of this generation, and he fought him and beat him easy.
“He boxed him and looked amazing. That’s what you got to do to these fighters. You got to make sure they stay in the gym, stay focused, and then build fights, continue to build fights because the attraction is always going to be there.
“It’s going to be more when they see you fighting and knocking people out. Then they see Tank Davis knocking people out, and whoever else knocking somebody out, then they’re going to want to make the fight happen.
“So it needs to be build up more,” said Vargas about the Ryan vs. Tank Davis fight.
Vargas doesn’t quite grasp the idea of retiring while you still have a lot left in the tank, as he was finished by the time he had turned 29. But as he points out, if Ryan is tired of the sport, it makes sense for him to hang up the gloves.