Showtime on Saturday will ring the bell for the start of the 2023 pay-per-view boxing schedule with its Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia championship fight card.
The fight, for Davis’ lightweight title, marks the undefeated champion's fifth appearance on PPV since 2020. Davis' last PPV fight in May against Rolando Romero generated more than 250,000 PPV buys, according to published reports. The Davis-Garcia fight will retail at a suggested price of $74.99.
If Davis wins, it sets up a potentially lucrative PPV fight this spring against rising, undefeated boxer Ryan Garcia.
The Davis-Garcia event is the first of what Showtime hopes to be a strong 2023 PPV campaign. Showtime distributed three PPV bouts in 2022.
“As strong a year as [2022] was, I think 2023 will be bigger and better,” Stephen Espinoza, Showtime Sports president, sports and event programming, said during the fight’s December press conference in Washington D.C. ”There’s no better way to kick off the year than with Gervonta Davis, the hottest young star in the sport.” ■
