Oscar De La Hoya has stated that Ryan Garcia’s first fight at 140 could be for a world title.
Such a move would be daring since Garcia is coming off a seventh-round loss to Gervonta Davis at 135, which was the biggest fight of his career. Thereafter, Garcia hired his new trainer, Derrick James. Trainers need time to work with their fighters, so a world title shot may not be wisest move for a first fight. And in the 140 pound division this could include bouts with Teofimo Lopez, Rolando Romero, Subriel Matias or Regis Prograis. But by daring to be great, Garcia will have the chance to win his first world title. And that is something that De La Hoya is targeting.
“We have a date for him in November. We’re figuring out the opponent. We feel that Ryan at 140 can be a force to be reckoned with. We did sign a couple of fighters who are No.1 contenders. The belts can possibly be at stake. So given the fact that Rolly is in recess—I believe he got injured, something was wrong with him, whether it’s his back or his arm, I’m not really too sure, he’s a fighter in recess. So now there’s going to be some opportunities there to possibly [have] Ryan [fight] for a world title,” De La Hoya
Those comments may also be an attempt to repair the relations between the two. De La Hoya and Garcia are in a legal dispute over an alleged breach of contract. Garcia has responded by attempting to dismiss De La Hoya’s lawsuit and seek mediation. In the background to this, Garcia has been pictured with Floyd Mayweather, as rumors persist that Garcia could work with PBC. But for De La Hoya, he distanced himself from that talk.
“I don’t know what that’s all about but it’s none of my business. Any fighter can hang out with any fighter. That’s just the nature of the beast. It doesn’t really matter. On the contrary, I think Ryan hanging out with Floyd, he can get a lot of knowledge from Floyd because he’s one of the best boxers out there, or was. I know for a fact that Floyd isn’t giving him any business advice, but I know that Floyd can give him some fight advice. And if Ryan soaks it in and listens to him, yeah, it can only help him,” De La Hoya