Tempers flare as Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia make weight for big fight

Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia had to be physically separated when they came together one final time at Friday afternoon’s weigh-ins ahead of their eagerly anticipated fight.

Garcia (28-0, 26 KOs), who emerged in a black tank top before stripping down to yellow shorts on a clear 84F afternoon, was first on the scales and came in at 135½lbs, a half-pound below the contracted catch-weight of 136lbs.

Davis (23-0, 19 KOs), who entered wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts, tipped the scales at 135lbs before a crowd of several thousand spectators gathered in Toshiba Plaza, the public square outside the 20,000-seat arena where Saturday’s grudge match between America’s two most popular boxers will take place.

Afterward they came together at center stage for a staredown, where the long-running hostility between the pair reached a boiling point. After jawing and chirping at one another for 45 seconds, Davis shoved Garcia in his chest and Garcia pushed back before the men were dragged backwards to their respective sides of the stage.

Garcia said Davis was provoked on stage by Bernard Hopkins, the former middleweight champion turned partner with Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes the 24-year-old southern California native.

“I don’t really know (what happened), to be honest,” Garcia said. “I think him and Bernard started getting into it, then it just became something crazy. But I was focused, I’m staying focused and I’m ready to do my job.”

Davis wouldn’t elaborate on the exchange but took a swipe at Hopkins before exiting the stage.

“He (was) talking about how, ‘He about that life’,” Davis said. “Nobody is worried about his old ass. He needs to sit about and let the young’ins doing it.”

The issue of weight was always the