Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya Provides An Update On His Relationship With Ryan Garcia
According to Oscar De La Hoya, he has been doing everything in his power to ensure that Ryan Garcia is happy. He believes any ill will is based on the side of Garcia’s.
Speaking with The Ring, Golden Boy’s De La Hoya discussed the recent drama between him and his prized fighter. Originally, Garcia (20-0) was supposed to fight on July 4 for Golden Boy’s return. He then hinted that the fight would not be happening, and ultimately, called out Golden Boy and DAZN for offering him $200,000 to compete. Garcia requested $500,000, stating he deserves more. In a now-deleted tweet, Garcia stated the following to De La Hoya:
“You do realize you’re supposed to be my promoter not hater right?”
De La Hoya discussed recent comments made by advisor Lupe Valencia, who stated that DAZN has a limited budget and was rushing Garcia back. De La Hoya ended up stating Valencia’s advice to Garcia wasn’t the wisest.
“I wanted to create that holiday where, look, July 4th, everyone’s going to be at home,” De La Hoya said, via Bad Left Hook. “Everyone’s going to be cooking their barbecues and spending time with family, and watching a great fight with Ryan Garcia, and it just never happened.
“We couldn’t come to terms. I’m sure his advice was obviously not a good one. It would have been a wonderful event. I was really, really looking forward to it. We’ll see when he fights again. We just don’t know at this point”
Golden Boy assigned Garcia to a long-term deal and has him being mentored by Canelo Alvarez. The progression of Garcia is key, especially if he was to become a future world champion under their banner. Fights with Jorge Linares and Gervonta Davis can help him grow, but that all depends on if he can actually take them all on. Due to the demands by another party, De La Hoya doesn’t see how all of this adds up.
“We signed the richest deal for any type of prospect, ever, in boxing,” De La Hoya went on to say. “His lawyer, Lupe, made this deal happen, and now Lupe is not satisfied with what they negotiated? It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Unfortunately, fighters in this game get a lot of bad advice. That’s the bottom line. Or maybe they just have a different agenda. Rumors are starting to circulate about certain people trying to take fighters away from us… When you have a top, top prospect like a Ryan Garcia, everyone and their mother’s going to try to take him away, because he does move the meter. But therefore we pay him accordingly.”
Garcia has won seven fights since 2018. He won the WBO-NABO and WBC Silver Lightweight Titles against Romero Duno in November via TKO, his third win in a row via knockout. “KingRy” won his last bout in February, hitting Francisco Fonseca with a devastating knockout punch. This is not the first time Garcia has had issues with De la Hoya and Golden Boy. Back in September, Garcia used his social media presence to complain about an opponent change, and how Golden Boy wasn’t treating him fairly.
De La Hoya doesn’t know if a social media presence can lead to PPV buys and big wins for DAZN. Now, Vergil Ortiz Jr. will be replacing Garcia on a new fight night card on July 24 in California. De La Hoya sees a bright future for Ortiz, just like Garcia.
As far as what is next for Garcia and Golden Boy, De la Hoya will still be working on securing his future. It is up to Garcia what happens next.
“We’re gonna continue offering him fights, and if he keeps on turning them down, then there’s nothing we can do,” De La Hoya said.