December 2, 2023
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
As Ryan Garcia prepared for his fight against Oscar Duarte, his attention turned toward a two-man match featuring his promoters and Hall of Fame fighters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins this week.
The ongoing feud between Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions – which is still an ongoing legal matter – boiled over when Hopkins said he’d decide if Garcia should ever fight again after Saturday and later followed it up with a comment saying "we’re not in the business of kissing a fighter’s ass" when speaking regarding the 25-year-old Garcia.
Garcia took offense to the comments and made a point to address them during his Thursday press conference, saying that Golden Boy was backing Duarte instead of him. Garcia also chided Hopkins for getting knocked out of the ring in the final fight of his career.
De La Hoya tried placating the situation with several social media posts urging Garcia to stay focused and that he was concerned for Garcia’s state of mind.
In an interview with BoxingScene.com following the Friday weigh-in, De La Hoya cleared the air on what has been a tumultuous week.
"I know for a fact that Ryan is being advised wrong and is being fed wrong information. I do not understand what Ryan has against us. After we told him not to take the [Gervonta Davis] fight on their terms, he went against our word, meaning the rehydration clause and taking a lesser percentage. I have no clue what he has against us ... He just made $30-plus million [fighting Davis]. The biggest payday of his entire career. We build him from the bottom up. I don't understand what is going on other than he has bad advice. He has too many whispers in his ear.
“I saw the interview that Bernard gave. It was nothing negative. It was nothing against Ryan. It was Bernard Hopkins speaking as a fighter, giving his opinion and assessing the situation ... All Hopkins was doing was giving his opinion on how he felt. Nothing negative, nothing bad. It's mind-boggling.
“The hardest part is being his promoter because he has so many people talking in his ear. I know how to build champions. I know how to make them money. I know what's best for them. When you have assistants, advisors, and lawyers who are talking against us it sometimes makes it impossible for us to do our jobs .
“[The Thursday press conference] was not awkward at all. I'm doing my job. I treat it as a business, and that's all it is. I do have a closer relationship with 99.9% of my roster at Golden Boy, which makes it very pleasant. But this is a business. If you want me to treat it like a business, I will.
“I am very confident [the legal matters] will get worked out. We are promoting Ryan for the foreseeable future and I am going to do the best job possible to make him the most money, and then that's it ... [We still have] a multi-year deal [with Garcia] ... I'm in his corner ... I have nothing against him. I am working for him and want to get the best deals possible. I hope one day he becomes a world champion and we can get past this.
“The hardest part is dealing with the people around him. There are people in his camp that don't have his best interests ... Golden Boy is doing their job. We are doing what we do best. If we have to endure some critique along the way from fighters and issues we are dealing with now, it's no big deal. We've dealt with this before. There is always an answer to everything. I think when Ryan Garcia steps inside the ring against Duarte I sure hope he's focused and will take care of business and then we move on to the next big pay-per-view fights.
“I feel your pain [Ryan] and I am in your corner. I am sure he is going through a lot of emotions right now, and I've been there many times. I never expressed it and never told anybody but I've been there many times over. Ryan, I feel your pain. I wish you all the best.”
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