NEW YORK – Oscar De La Hoya applauded Ryan Garcia’s unwavering willingness to fight Gervonta Davis during their recent press tour.
“The Golden Boy,” whose company promotes Garcia, gave himself and his team a proverbial pat on the back, too, for ensuring that the deal was finalized for the highest-profile fight on the boxing calendar. De La Hoya didn’t provide details, but he told a small group of reporters following a recent press conference at Palladium Times Square that the fight wouldn’t have happened had Golden Boy Promotions not made sure of it as negotiations dragged on in February.
“It actually was in trouble and, you know, I’m proud to say that Golden Boy are the ones who revived it,” De La Hoya said. “So, we took it to the finish line and we’re very proud of that. So, the fact that Ryan wanted it, the fact that we revived it, just goes to show you that we’ve always wanted to work with all the promoters. We’ve always wanted to work with the very best to make these fights happen. That’s all we want is to make the best fights happen.”
Baltimore’s Garcia (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, will square off April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their 12-round bout, which will be contested at a catch weight of 136 pounds, will headline a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View broadcast.
The 24-year-old Garcia made much-discussed concessions to get their deal done.
In addition to dropping back down near the lightweight limit of 135 pounds, Garcia agreed to a rehydration clause that prohibits him from gaining more than 10 pounds above the contracted maximum on the day of their fight. The contract weight for Garcia’s last fight – a sixth-round knockout of Javier Fortuna on July 16 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles – was 140 pounds.
Garcia also acquiesced to a rematch clause that favors Davis, who is entitled to an immediate rematch if Garcia wins. If Davis wins, he would not be required to grant Garcia a rematch.
“You know, you have to respect Ryan Garcia for it,” De La Hoya said. “It’s unheard of to give so many concessions up, but that’s how badly he wanted it. That’s how motivated he is to win this fight April 22nd.”
De La Hoya hopes the finalization of Davis-Garcia leads to his company and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions working together on more fights in the foreseeable future.
“It’s a perfect testament to what we wanna get done here, not only for this fight, but for the sport in general,” De La Hoya said. “We wanna make sure the big fights happen for boxing.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.