Oscar De La Hoya: Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia Is a 50-50 Fight

LAS VEGAS – Oscar De La Hoya offered his thoughts on how Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia could play out.

The Hall-of-Fame fighter spoke to a small group of reporters Friday afternoon at MGM Grand, where he acted out a couple of scenarios.

“It's a 50-50 fight,” De La Hoya stated. “It's such a good fight. If this fight is fought at the middle of the ring and Ryan's a taller kid, he can use his jab [and combinations]. He doesn't fight [low], he fights [tall]. That will be difficult for Gervonta.”

Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia press conference on Thursday. There's Oscar…He thinks this is a 50-50 fight

Victorville, California's Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) takes on Baltimore, Maryland's Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) on Saturday in a 136-pound catchweight fight on Showtime Pay-Per-View from T-Mobile Arena. A 10-pound rehydration clause is also in effect, meaning neither man can weigh more than 146 pounds at their second weigh-in.

However, the second weigh-in takes place in the morning. Therefore, both fighters can add as much as weight as they want from the time their second weigh-in ends until they enter the ring.

The 24-year-old Garcia has a 4½-inch height advantage and a 3-inch reach advantage over Davis. The 28 year old southpaw is coming off a sixth-round knockout victory against secondary junior lightweight titlist Javier Fortuna July 16 at Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles.

Davis has knocked out 18 of his last 19 opponents. He knocked out previously unbeaten secondary 130-pound titlist Hector Luis Garcia on January 7 at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. With the win, Davis made his fourth defense of the WBA ‘Regular' lightweight title.

Will Catchweight, Rehydration Issues Factor In During Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia?

In Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia, Garcia may or may not have a speed advantage over Davis when they finally square off in the ring. It's unclear if the weight stipulations will have an effect. At the final press conference on Thursday, Garcia appeared stronger than the version that appeared at an open workout last week. This is promising now that we're just a day away from the fight.

Davis, on the other hand, is undoubtedly the stronger puncher, who has one-punch knockout power. De La Hoya, who promotes Garcia, implied that if he pressures Garcia into his style of fighting, it could be a different outcome.

“Gervonta is going to make Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia a dog fight, you know? That's his fight. If he catches Ryan with that power, you never know.”

The Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia pay-per-view telecast will begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The chief support bout will feature hard-hitting secondary super middleweight titleholder David Morrell Jr. taking on Olympic bronze medalist Yamaguchi Falcao. The card also features a rematch between 168-pound sluggers Gabriel Rosado and Bektemir Melikuziev in a 10-round showdown. The 19-year-old Elijah Garcia kicks off the telecast against Kevin Salgado in a slated 10-round smasher.