There’s a difference between the Ryan Garcia who talks to Oscar De La Hoya and the person who sees Garcia’s promoter posting on social media.
De La Hoya told Hall of Fame football player Shannon Sharpe in a recent episode of Club Shay Shaywhich covered several other points – both about Garcia and other topics.
“Every time I talk to Ryan, every time I talk to him on the phone personally, he’s always nice and he always tells me, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do big things. I’m motivated. I want to make a lot of money,'” said De La Hoya, the eponymous head of Golden Boy Promotions.
“Ryan is Ryan, right? Every time we talk, it’s great, and then when I pick up the phone, I see Twitter, I see Instagram. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what are you doing?’ Lots of money. Good looking boy, just like me. And I gave them advice. I told them, hey, watch out for this, watch out for that. Ryan is Ryan. I have no idea what he’s thinking or doing.”
Garcia has attracted a lot of negative attention for his actions on social media and in real life. He is also currently serving a suspension after Positive test for banned substances for his fight against Devin Haney earlier this year. Garcia was overweight for this fight, which the fighter said he intended.
De La Hoya doesn’t believe Garcia can make it to the light welterweight division.
“Ryan is a big kid now,” De La Hoya said. “He can’t do 140. It has to be 147, 145.”
De La Hoya mentioned possible opponents such as current junior world champion Teofimo Lopez and welterweight titleholder Jaron “Boots” Ennis. He also named three fighters currently competing in the 154 class: Vergil Ortiz (who De La Hoya also promotes), Errol Spence and Terence Crawford.
Sharpe asked De La Hoya about the possibility of Garcia facing Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Haney in rematches.
Davis knocked Garcia down with a body shot and a count of 10 in a lightweight bout in April 2023.
“I didn’t negotiate this fight. Ryan’s lawyer and adviser negotiated this rehydration clause (which limits how much weight Garcia can gain before the fight) and the purse split,” De La Hoya said. “I was like, ‘Let me step away. Let me watch them make mistakes.’ I felt so bad for Ryan because he was drained. He reminded me of me when I fought Pacquiao. And then if you don’t make a certain weight the next (day), he has no chance of winning against Tank, who is a beast.”
Would the fight be different without a rehydration clause?
“I don’t know because Tank is very skilled. He’s a beast. He knows how to see through you,” De La Hoya said. “I’d like to see it at 147. That’s too much (weight) for Tank, but it would still be an incredible, competitive fight because Tank has the dog in him. He turns it on. It’s beautiful.”
As for Haney, Garcia was initially awarded a majority decision in April 2024, but that result has since been overturned by the New York State Athletic Commission.
“When we got to New York for fight week, I think it was Monday, the first call I got was, ‘Hey, please help us. Ryan Garcia is drunk in his room and he’s with women.’ I was like, ‘What, is this what I have to deal with all week?’ Imagine if Ryan Garcia was at 100 percent, what would he do to Devin Haney. Do I want to see a rematch? No, that’s not appropriate. Ryan, he just swiped, it was crazy. He just made him (Haney) look like an amateur. I don’t care if they say he took steroids or something. He was 30 percent better in that ring. 30 percent. Imagine if he was at 100 percent.”
Garcia’s return, however, is still a long way off. De La Hoya, who has struggled with mental illness and addiction problems himself, is confident that Garcia will get better.
“I think he will. I really do,” De La Hoya said. “To get back up, you have to touch the ground. I know he has the strength to do that. I think he’ll come back better, stronger than ever.”
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2His book “Fighting words: Heart and suffering of boxing”, is available on Amazon.
