By: Sean Crose
There seems to be trouble in heaven. First, Ryan Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, didn’t show up for his post-fight press conference earlier this spring after his boxer, Ryan Garcia, was knocked out by Gervonta Davis in the match. one of the most successful events of contemporary boxing (De La Hoya said he received death threats). Now De Ha Hoya is claiming that former great Manny Pacquiao, is the top pick for the famous Garcia to fight next. Garcia, suffice it to say, without it, goes as far as to essentially call De La Hoya on social media.
“This is not going to happen!!,” Garcia posted on a tweet by Michael Benson expressing De La Hoya’s hopes of a fight with Pacquiao. “I said what I wanted… It’s frustrating.. tired of this.” To be sure, Garcia recently posted what he wanted: “3 people I want to fight next,” he announced on Tuesday. “Rollies *they just ordered him to fight someone else. Isaac Cruz *if he is ready to go to 140. Teofimo López *depends on the result.” The name Manny Pacquiao certainly cannot not be on this list. Once again, De La Hoya might not be entirely serious in saying that Pacquiao is the top pick for Garcia’s next bout. After all, promoters are likely to say anything to keep the conversation about their fighters.
“I think Manny Pacquiao is the biggest fight that can go,” De La Hoya told Marcos Villegas. The iconic boxer turned senior promoter also claimed that he could “see that fight happen at 142, 143 possible”. Now that Garcia has made it clear that he doesn’t see a fight with Pacquiao happening in the near future – while also making it public his displeasure with his advertising situation – it’s worth wondering what’s going on. What could be the result of recent tension between the fighter and his promoter.
The truth is, despite being knocked out by Davis, Garcia is young enough, popular enough, and talented enough to still rake in a ton of dollars and attention. That means he has a lot of opponents to choose from. Then he, contract issues aside, has or is likely to have, plenty of promoters to choose from, as well… if he and De La Hoya had to part. With that said, the two have had a successful partnership up to this point. After all, the Garcia-Davis fight was a huge event, one made even more remarkable by the fact that no major titles were at stake.
