Oscar De La Hoya has opened up regarding his relationship with Ryan Garcia, which is currently in a turbulent position following Garcia’s April 22nd encounter with Gervonta Davis in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Garcia dropped to the maiden defeat of his career courtesy of a seventh-round knockout out by Davis. He criticised De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins for their immediate conduct after being absent from the traditional post-fight press conference following the encounter.
De La Hoya insisted that his absence was due to being informed of threats to his well-being by local law enforcement. Ryan followed this up by stating that Davis’s promotional and management team cared more about him than De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions.
Oscar appeared on the MMA Hour podcast hosted by Ariel Helwani on June 19 and explained the state of play between himself and Garcia. In recent weeks the pair have exchanged legal letters and filings in court, with Garcia seeking to be freed from his contract with Golden Boy Promotions, claiming a breach of contract as per his contractual terms and obligations stated within it.
De La Hoya & Golden Boy have countered with their own legal proceedings to enforce their rights to being Garcia’s promoters and keep him from walking away from the promotional entity. Oscar also revealed that Garcia had made $30 million for his encounter with Davis and suggested that people outside of their relationship have whispered in Garcia’s ear to distract the prodigy, influencing Garcia’s judgement.
“We have a lawsuit right now. I’m not suing him for money. He’s not suing me for money. I just want him to honour my contract. That’s it,” De La Hoya said in an interview with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour.”
“Just honour the contract; that’s it. You have obligations. I want [Garcia] to fight; I want [Garcia] to be a legend. Do you think I wanted him to fight Tank Davis with a rehydration clause? Hell, no. I’m looking out for him, but he has people whispering in his ear. ‘Oh, Oscar is bad. Oh, go with this other promoter, who will take care of you more. You’ll make more money.’ Well, guess what? Ryan just made $30 million-plus dollars [for the Davis fight]. I’m not doing anything wrong here. I’m trying to create a legend. What better person than me to guide [Garcia’s] career, to mould [him] into this superstar boxer who people will respect? But all these whispers, man. All these whispers.”
De La Hoya adds that the feud has become public mainly due to the fact that he’s not able to speak to Garcia directly.
“Well, look, people have kept me away from him,” said De La Hoya.
Helwani then asked: “You can’t call him up? Do you think it could get fixed if you guys had a face-to-face?”
De La Hoya answered, “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
Oscar continues to add that he is hurt by how his and Ryan’s relationship has broken down and suggests that he is hurt at how things have developed.
“Bob Arum once told me, ‘Oscar, you’re going to be disappointed, and they’re going to break your heart,’ meaning fighters, So don’t take it personally,” said De La Hoya.
“Look, I’m a promoter, and I’m going to be a promoter until I’m Bob Arum’s age. I love the sport. I love boxing. It gave me everything I had. I hate it, but I love it, and fighters come and go.”
Helwani finally asks if he will be promoting Garcia’s next fight, with Oscar insisting that he “absolutely” will be, along with squashing speculation that an immediate split will emerge between the pair, with Golden Boy promotions having “several years” remaining on a multi-year contract between the two parties.
