- The fashion within fighting has been profoundly felt in recent weeks.
- Ahead of the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight, both athletes have been dripping in expensive clothes.
LAS VEGAS — The fashion within fighting has been profoundly felt in the build-up to Saturday's showdown between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
When boxing gets its biggest shows right, there are few things like it in any sport, as the event itself tends to transcend regular fight fans and infiltrate celebrity, entertainment, and fashion circles.
"Gervonta 'Tank' Davis is sometimes shy," Stephen Espinoza, the President of Showtime Sports and a key event organizer, told Insider this week. "But he's not shy when expressing himself through fashion."
The outfits Davis has recently worn have created talking points, which is nothing new in boxing.
Floyd Mayweather was renowned for his dress sense, for example, and Conor McGregor generated headlines in 2017 when he wore a tailored suit that had the words 'Fuck You' etched throughout the pinstripes.
—Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 11, 2017
"It's always been in boxing, going back to guys like Sugar Ray Robinson with his pink Cadillac," in the 1950s Leonard Ellerbe, a representative of Davis, told Insider.
"And guys like Muhammad Ali. They were fly, they had an image, and were sharp."
Tank's handbag became the talk of the town
At a pre-fight press conference last month, Davis wore a bright-colored fur coat, sunglasses, and carried a handbag.
Fight fans "might have made fun of Gervonta because of his jacket, but that Bottega Veneta purse is $5,500," said TV reporter and boxing commentator Cynthia Conte during an interview with Insider this week.
"I carry it, I don't care if I was a man," she said. "Then, at the second press conference in Los Angeles, he wore Rick Owens jeans which are easily a thousand dollars each, and a Celine leather jacket, which is over $5,000.
"People made fun of it, but more people are talking about it, or Googling it," said Conte.
For Espinoza, it "takes courage" for a 28-year-old man to wear a pink coat in New York City, yet he said it is a way Davis conveys his unique personality.
"He's grown in confidence and I think he's more comfortable expressing it now," said Espinoza.
"I don't know if the 18-year-old kid, who just started fighting on television, would start dressing up in outrageous outfits," he added. "And Tank is someone who has grown into it and showing he's comfortable with who he is, and how he belongs on the biggest stage."
Though Davis has carried expensive accessories to fight events, he is "not about specific brands but more about looks," according to Espinoza, as he's also worn vintage rock T-shirts depicting bands — like Metallica — who peaked before he was even born.
"I think he's experimenting all over the place providing it feels authentic to him," Espinoza said.
Conte agreed. "He mixes and matches his outfits like he did with a vintage T-shirt, Rick Owens jeans, the Celine jacket, and the purse. He probably had so much money on him that he didn't want it hanging out his back pocket."
For Ellerbe, "Gervonta has his own style. He's a trendsetter," he told us.
"He has a whole entire young generation rocking with him — so you'll see a number of brands who want him to be their face of what they got going on."
As for the male purse, "there's nothing with the murse," Conte finished. "You should wear one!"
Davis vs. Garcia airs on Showtime pay-per-view Saturday from Las Vegas.