Tank Davis – Ryan Garcia: Three fights added to undercard for April 22

By Rob Smith - 04/03/2023 - Comments

The Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Ryan Garcia has been beefed up with three excellent undercard fights that were added today for their April 22nd mega-clash on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event begins at 8:00 p.m. ET.

In the chief support bout, WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr (8-0, 7 KOs) defends against #9 Sena Agbeko (27-2, 21 KOs) in a fight scheduled for 12 rounds.

With a strong performance, 25-year-old Morrell could steal the show from the headliner fight between Tank and Ryan, particularly if that is a blowout as many expect.

Morrell is under contract to face WBA interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez next. That fight could be far more entertaining than Benavidez’s recent victory over Caleb Plant, considering that Morrell has better power and gas tank.

Journeyman Gabriel Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KOs) battles Bektemir ‘Bek The Bully’ Melikuziev (11-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round rematch of their 2021 clash. Rosado knocked Bektemir clean out in the third round.

Unfortunately for Rosado, his career has taken a turn for the worse since his upset win over Bektemir, with him losing his last three fights to Ali Akhmedov, Shane Mosley Jr, and Jaime Munguia.

Unless Rosado can once again catch Bektemir with a big countershot to knock him out, he will likely lose their rematch. Bektemir will need to make a lot of improvements for him to become one of the major players at 168 or 175 because he loads up too much on single shots, causing him to telegraph everything he throws.

In the first fight of the PPV port of the card, middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia (14-0, 12 KOs) takes on Kevin Salgado (15-1-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round showdown.

“It was tough having the fight against ‘Zurdo’ canceled, but now it’s me versus Bek on the biggest fight card of the year,” said Rosado. “I’m focused and ready to put Bek back in check. I look forward to being part of a historical fight card, and I plan on dominating ‘The Bully’ once again!”

“This is the fight I wanted and the most important fight for me today,” said Melikuziev. “This is the fight to right the wrong. I am so lucky to make it on the biggest card of the year. I want to thank my team, my promoter, and of course, Rosado, for giving me this opportunity.”

It’s questionable whether adding these three fights to the Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia card will be enough to attract more boxing fans to want to pay the $84.99 to order it on Showtime PPV.