The fight at the top of Carl Froch’s 2022 wish list is a showdown between unbeaten lightweights Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Ryan Garcia.
Davis and Garcia are regarded by many observers as the two biggest names at 135-pounds.
Garcia has been inactive since January, when he picked up the biggest win of his career with a knockout of Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell. In the early going, Garcia was dropped hard and then forced to rally back to eventually stop Campbell in the seventh round.
He was then scheduled to take part in a fight with Javier Fortuna but withdrew to place his full focus on improving his mental health. Garcia was then set for a fight with former champion Joseph Diaz. That fight fell out when Garcia withdrew with injury.
Davis saw action twice in 2021. He moved up to the junior welterweight limit of 140-pounds in June to score an impressive knockout of unbeaten Mario Barrios. He would then move back to lightweight in December, to pick up a twelve round unanimous decision win over late placement Isaac Cruz.
Froch, a former super middleweight champion, views Davis vs. Garcia as a fireworks encounter.
“Gervonta Davis against Ryan Garcia [is the fight I want to see in 2022]. It’s a great fight. I can remember seeing ‘Tank’ Davis for the first time in New York on the James DeGale vs Badou Jack bill. He had an elusive style, he threw big uppercuts and he brought excitement,” Froch told Sky Sports.
“Then you’ve got Ryan Garcia, who climbed off the canvas to stop Luke Campbell. They are two exciting fighters with fantastic ability coming together in an explosive clash. What a fight! Someone has to lose their unbeaten record, so you know it’s going to be a cracker.”