Calvin Ford feels Gervonta Davis doesn’t get anywhere near the type of respect the fighter he has long trained deserves.

According to Ford, even detractors should start to think differently about the 28-year-old knockout artist after he embarks on what they expect will be a very successful 2023. Ford and Davis expressed respect toward undefeated Hector Luis Garcia during a press conference Monday in Washington, D.C., but Ford noted that Davis will beat the Dominican southpaw in a way that’ll turn heads.

“This fight is everything to show stop playing with him,” Ford said. “Give him his props. They still don’t wanna give him his props. But that’s good. We from the mud. We like playing in the mud. The 7th, come and watch this. We putting everybody on notice – everybody.”

Ford refused to even mention Ryan Garcia’s name during a press conference to promote Davis’ 12-round, 135-pound title fight against Hector Luis Garcia on January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. If the unbeaten Baltimore native gets past the WBA super featherweight champion next month, though, and Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) wins his own interim bout against Mercito Gesta (33-3-3, 17 KOs) later in January, those victories will set up one of the biggest fights in boxing for some point next spring.

Davis and Ford nevertheless recognize that Hector Luis Garcia isn’t a tune-up type of opponent.

The 31-year-old Garcia emerged from obscurity February 26 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where the huge underdog dropped and dominated previously unbeaten 130-pound contender Chris Colbert (16-1, 6 KOs) to win a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision and earn a title shot. Garcia then handled Venezuela’s Roger Gutierrez (26-4-1, 20 KOs), who was the WBA champion, rather easily as well on his way to winning a unanimous decision August 20 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

BetMGM sportsbook has still installed Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) as an 11-1 favorite to beat Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs, 3 NC) in their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event. Ford anticipates a tougher fight than that for Davis, who is shorter than Garcia, but a more explosive puncher and experienced in the lightweight division.

“We got one fight – that’s Hector,” Ford said. “Don’t wanna talk about the other. Period. Don’t even ask me a question. So, people out there, please don’t ask me a question. Hector is on my mind. He been on my mind two months before we even knew we had him. You know what I’m saying? He bringing a lot to the table. Everybody starting to really look at him now. They know he’s the real deal.

“But like I said, the road to success is through D.C. We are in D.C. Hector’s standing in front of us. So, we know what we gotta do. I feel sorry [for Garcia] because we have so much pain. You get what I’m saying? And we need to release it before we go to that next level. And Hector’s in the way. Simple as that.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.