Davis trainer threatens to cancel fight if Elijah Garcia is heavier than 173 pounds

By Norm Frauenheim –

LAS VEGAS – Phoenix middleweight Elijah Garcia can be no heavier than 173 pounds at a weigh-in Saturday morning or his fight against Kyrone Davis is off, Davis trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards said.

Garcia failed to make weight Friday at the formal weigh-in for his bout with Davis on the undercard featuring lightweights Tank Davis-versus-Frank Martin and light-heavyweights David Benavidez versus Oleksandr Gvozdyk at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I told him, if he (Garcia) is more than 10 pounds over tomorrow, we can’t fight,’’ Edwards told video journalist Sean Zittel.

The morning weigh-in is scheduled for 9:30 a.m (PT). Garcia-Davis is the ninth fight on a 13-fight card, according to the bout sheet.  First bell is scheduled for 12:15 p.m.

The Garcia-Davis fight was announced before the weigh-in. But neither fighter ever made it to the scale that was on the stage.

It was disclosed later that negotiations were underway after Garcia struggled to make weight.

According to Edwards, Garcia was at 165.2 pounds the first time he stepped on the scale, off-stage. The second time, he was at 163 pounds.

Davis was at 160.4. Edwards said the rehydration clause for Saturday morning’s weigh-on was set at 173.

He said that Garcia already had an advantage because he was 2.6 pounds heavier than Davis late Friday.

Davis, Edwards said, was unhappy.

“This is the second time this happened,’’ Edwards said.

The Garcia-Davis fight has already been postponed once. They had been scheduled to fight March 30. But the bout got cancelled when Garcia got sick.

He suffered from a respiratory infection.

“I wasn’t feeling good,’’ Garcia (16-0, 13 KOs), a 21-year-old prospect, said Wednesday at a news conference.  “I was feeling a little bit sick last time, but I’m good right now,” 

Garcia is anxious to regain the career momentum he had a year ago. He hasn’t fought since September.

“Absolutely,’’ Garcia said Wednesday. “It’s June, and I’m having my first fight, so that kind of sucks because I want to be fighting four or five times a year.”

Davis (18-3-1, 6 KOs) is seen as a tough test, especially for a young prospect who hopes for a shot at a middleweight title. Erislandy Lara, a 40-year-old belt holder, has been mentioned as a possibility.

Davis’ resume includes a date as a late replacement, a sub, for Benavidez in November 2021 in Phoenix. He gave the bigger Benavidez six tough rounds before his corner threw in the towel in the seventh.