This boxing world of ours, rife with politics, stalled negotiations, and sloppy fake news needs a bunch of bitter, bitter truths shot in its ears– and I just toro to do it. So step back and watch me wash away your boxing ignorance. This week we have comments/questions regarding the recent development of the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia obstacle course.
WTF to Make of the Tank/Ryan/Oscar Mess
Hi Paul.
I hope you and your family are well and safe.
I’ve been so frustrated with the way these Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia negotiations are going. One day we heard that the fight was official. After that, it’s almost done, but we shouldn’t worry because everyone is on the same page. After that, Oscar [De La Hoya] go along and tell everyone, say there is no contract and he is setting a deadline to get the contract for him. After that, everything was fine again, the contract was in hand and only a few small details needed to be worked out. Then, all of a sudden, the fight fell back into jeopardy as they reached some insurmountable stalemate, according to Oscar. But Stephen Espinoza [Showtime Sports head] then said that Oscar’s issue was purely news to him as he had not heard from the Golden Boy on any matter regarding the rematch clause. WTF is happening???? I disagree with your point from yesterday’s article that we should get rid of the war altogether, but I certainly understand where you’re coming from. I don’t even have any questions for you, I just want to vent how frustrated I am.
Please continue to uphold.
– Victor from Cape Coral
Hey Victor.
I hear you. One thing we know for sure is that this is not the way to conduct the negotiation process between experts. I really don’t know what to do with this. The only thing I can think of is that Oscar is in business for himself, scamming and working independently of what the Golden Boy can do behind the scenes– and that no one at the Golden Boy has the authority or be brave enough to tell Oscar to chill out. But as I wrote in Tuesday’s article, this latest, public ploy by Oscar has put the Golden Boy in such a predicament that they’ll have to concede everything in order to move on or dig deeper. join and prepare for a protracted negotiation war. However, calling this a “plot” of Oscar is kind. I’m inclined to believe this latest is more about Oscar trying to make himself look wise and take stock of the situation rather than a strategic move to forge a more favorable deal. Anyway, I just want it to end. I DON’T REALLY want to ditch Tank-Garcia, but maybe we can put out the flames by threatening to move on if this doesn’t work out.
Scrap it.
Hey Mags.
I and you. Let the divas be divas and let’s move on. Tank doesn’t need Ryan and Ryan definitely doesn’t need Golden Boy. Let Oscar diva sit in a fishing net with his fake abs. Heyeeexxxxt!
– DC Roy
Hey Roy.
I don’t want to be here for another year or two still talking about whether Gervonta and Ryan have a fight, like Spence-Crawford 2.0. If the bullshit and public understanding continue, it’s best to go ahead and let each party work with more compatible business partners. The penalty for this kind of behavior is NOT to get a chance to derail future negotiations for big fights. As you said, let the divas be divas.
Side with Tank-Garcia Hangup
You know as well as I do that Al Haymon and the PBC always include these terms in contracts that lead to murderous fights. They are known to be difficult to deal with. What Oscar is asking for is perfectly reasonable. If Ryan defeats Tank, he will become side A and his men will command the shots in the rematch. That’s the way it’s always been.
– Juan Moreno from Cali
Hey Juan.
That’s the way things have always been– unless that’s not the case, which is quite often. Oscar himself did not concede party A’s status in contractually binding rematches. This doesn’t look like a real suicide when the king killer is directly enthroned. There’s a lot to consider, and one of the biggest is DAZN’s lack of market access and control in the US. Why would Davis (or Garcia for that matter) put such a big, important, and decisive battle in the hands of a company that would most likely underperform in making it public?
In reality, however, Oscar’s issue is so vague that it’s hard to argue for or against. When De La Hoya told ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, “It’s only fair that if Ryan wins, then our side controls everything as faction A,” why didn’t Coppinger bother to ask what that means? Coppinger will Tweet an explanation of: “the issue revolves around the rematch organizer and network if Tank loses,” but if everything stays the same for the rematch, Golden Boy is ready and DAZN will move on. have their own broadcasting rights to the bout. So what, specifically, hang up? You would think that Coppinger, sitting on the huge pile of ESPN money, would bother to clarify such things. If I’m missing something, please let me know.
About Haymon/PBC being tough and “always putting these terms in contracts leading to deadly fights”… How exactly do we know that? Remember that EVERYTHING you know about any negotiation comes from information leaked to the media by someone with a vested interest in presenting themselves in the best possible light. We really have no idea what goes on behind closed conference room doors. So unless you have a direct, personal understanding of what’s going on, there’s no way we can talk about who’s to blame for what.
I mean, seriously, why would anyone even try to side with something they literally know nothing about? Crazy. As for me, I’m not taking sides. I don’t care “who’s to blame.” I just want everyone to leave, stop, if they can’t make the worst happen.
Have a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best are included in the weekly mailing bag segment right here at FightHype. Submit your content here: [email protected].
