Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom was shocked and disturbed by the recent war of words between Ryan Garcia and his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya.
On Thursday, their behind-the-scenes drama became a public matter when De La Hoya and Garcia were openly trading words on social media.
Earlier this week, Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) stated in an interview that Gervonta Davis’ team cared more about him than his own team following his seventh-round knockout loss to Tank in April.
In the aftermath of that defeat, De La Hoya, Golden Boy partner Bernard Hopkins, and Garcia’s former trainer Joe Goossen no-showed the post-fight press conference. Garcia was backed up by his father and co-trainer Henry, adviser Lupe Valencia as well as Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez.
De La Hoya has claimed in past interviews that he received death threats on the night of Davis-Garcia and he left the venue for safety reasons.
In response to Garcia’s recent statements, De La Hoya lashed out in his direction on Twitter.
“What the f— Ryan. It’s been almost two months and you’re still crying about the post-presser? The blame for your loss is on you and your ‘adviser’ Lupe. He is the only one who pushed you to accept that insane [136-pound catchweight and 10-pound] rehydration clause and that is the reason you lost. Man up. Own that,” wrote De La Hoya.
“Also, you keep saying ‘Tank’s team offered more support for you’ blah blah blah. Bro, they set you up to lose with that rehydration clause, and most importantly, [PBC head] Al Haymon didn’t even show up the entire week. Actually, he never shows up. How’s that for ‘support?’”
It didn’t take long for Garcia to fire back.
“Okay, buddy. You got it all figured out. I’m tired of you disrespecting my whole career, and you think none of it matters. Loyalty and common sense are lost in your head. Stop treating people that way and think they will just accept it.”
Garcia was also offended that De La Hoya was hanging around WBA junior welterweight Rolando Romero last weekend, during a Golden Boy show in Indio, which was headlined by Alexis Rocha. Romero, who is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, has openly called out Garcia for a fight.
“You know I’m about to fight this guy [Romero]. And you go act buddy-buddy with him. You don’t care about your fighters. I’m really tired of this fake act! Stop the cap. Be real for once man. I can respect you more if you just told me the truth – you’re in it for the cash. No love lost,” wrote Garcia.
De La Hoya responded: “It’s called promoting. Who do you think sparked the fight week press conference [for the Davis fight] when it was like being at a funeral? My job is to promote; your job is to fight. No lost love.”
Garcia hit back, “Weren’t you just promoting the fake [Manny Pacquiao] fight that I already told you I’m not accepting? Do you really think I’m going to fall for that bull twice?”
In the last few days, De La Hoya had floated the idea of negotiating a potential catch-weight fight between Garcia and the retired Manny Pacquiao.
Hearn, who promotes a large stable of fighters, had never seen a situation where a promoter was openly fighting with the company’s biggest star on social media.
“Unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, Oscar De La Hoya is just an accident waiting to happen. Like…. What is he doing? Firstly, the relationship is so f—– and everyone knows that. Everyone in boxing knows that this is ending one way – in a court room,” Hearn told IFL TV.
“But the one thing you have to do is… when you see a relationship like that, a professional relationship sliding that way – you’ve got to get together, and you’ve got to try and mend that, and you’ve got to have a plan. But Oscar is so irrational in what he does. You never know what he’s going to do.
“Ryan gives an interview and rightfully so, [and said] ‘I was upset’ – that’s like having a fight of a massive magnitude… let’s call it AJ and Dillian Whyte….. and AJ gets beat… and I don’t turn up to the presser and I just go home and to a restaurant for dinner. You know me a long time… can you ever imagine me doing that? You just don’t do it. He went to dinner.
“I know [De La Hoya] said he had death threats… who knows. I don’t care. But literally if we had the presser… and it’s not like it’s the presser was in a car lot, it’s backstage – in the arena. And someone comes up to me from security and says ‘just to let you know there has been a death threat’ – do you think I would go home? I’m not trying to be tough, but it’s not like it’s an environment where random people are coming up to you… it’s an enclosed environment full of media. But that’s part of this ongoing problem. I just couldn’t believe it. And it wasn’t just one, but five tweets. You own it or sort yourself out. It’s just unbelievable and it looks like the relationship is completely irreparable.
“Ryan Garcia is Golden Boy’s biggest client by a long way, a long way. That is like me tweeting AJ after he got beat – ‘stop with the excuses and own it.’ You never throw your client, your friend, whoever it is – out to dry. You speak to him. You got a problem; you speak to him. But it’s beyond that. And there have been rumors for years about where this [relationship between De La Hoya and Garcia] is going. It’s about to explode.”