Gervonta Davis Defeats Ryan Garcia by Knockout in Battle of Lightweight Superstars

Gervonta Davis added a huge seventh-round knockout win over Ryan Garcia to his ever-growing resume on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Davis showcased his one-punch power with a slick left hand to the ribs that put Garcia on a knee, where he took a 10-count from the referee.

As was expected, Davis got off to a slow start. Garcia was the aggressor from the opening bell. In the first, it was just with his footwork, but he started letting his hands fly in the second round.

That turned out to be a mistake. Davis landed a crisp left-hand counter that put Garcia on the floor early.

Garcia was able to shake off the effects of the early knockdown. He took the following round on several scorecards across Twitter:

While he was competitive in the rounds following the knockdown, he had a hard time landing his signature left hook. Davis' head movement and body punches made it difficult for him to find a homer with his left.

Unfortunately for him, Davis found a home with his own left hand. He crushed Garcia to the body with a left hook of his own that sent Garcia to a knee for the 10-count.

It's hard to overstate what this win does for Davis. There was a lot of buildup for this fight, and the co-promotion between Showtime Boxing and DAZN is rarely seen in the sport.

There were plenty of back-and-forths regarding the negotiations for the fight. It took nearly a year to put the catchweight fight together, and Davis didn't even put his WBA lightweight title on the line.

One sticking point in those negotiations was a rematch clause. Ultimately, they settled on one that stipulated Davis would get an instant rematch opportunity if he lost to Garcia. Now that he has put away KingRy, he has no contractual obligation to give him another fight.

Instead, he's free to continue toward becoming the biggest name in the lightweight division. Undefeated Devin Haney still sits atop ESPN's rankings as the No. 1 fighter in the loaded division. Davis was No. 3 heading into this fight.

No. 2 Vasiliy Lomachenko will take on Haney in a fight scheduled for May 20. Haney has teased a potential move up to 140 pounds, which could leave a void at the top of the weight class that Davis is now in the driver's seat to fill.

Even with Haney's potential exodus, there are plenty of interesting fighters left in the division. Shakur Stevenson made a successful 135-pound debut against Shuichiro Yoshino earlier this month.

He has already taken aim at Davis with some trash talk.

"I ain't gonna take away credit from the dude. I think that [Davis is] a helluva fighter. I mean, look at him," Stevenson said in December. "He's fighting pay-per-view, knocking these dudes out. That don't take away the fact that I can beat this dude. This dude knows he can't beat me."

With Davis winning this megafight, there's going to be no shortage of contenders that would like a piece of his star power and the payday that comes with it.