Promoter Oscar De La Hoya continues to jibe at his star charge, Ryan Garcia, in what appears to be yet another sign of their deteriorating relationship.
The two figures have been feuding for the past few months, with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions going so far as to lodge a lawsuit at the junior welterweight star from Victorville, Calif.
The trouble started in the aftermath of Garcia’s stoppage loss to Gervonta Davis in April at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Garcia, 25, publicly criticized De La Hoya for not showing up at the post-fight press conference, which then prompted the promoter to fire back at his client, kickstarting a fiery back-and-forth exchange. Also absent from the press conference was Golden Boy partner Bernard Hopkins, although president Eric Gomez was present.
De La Hoya’s latest taunt occurred after Garcia posted a picture on Instagram of him hanging out with one of De La Hoya’s cardinal nemeses, Floyd Mayweather Jr., the Hall of Fame fighter who defeated De La Hoya back in 2007 by split decision. De La Hoya responded with a facetious comment underneath the post.
“Good seeing you with the guy I beat [heart emoji],” wrote De La Hoya, who has consistently maintained he deserved to eke out a win over Mayweather.
The comment comes as Golden Boy filed a lawsuit in June against Garcia and Garcia’s manager, Lupe Valencia, regarding the status of Garcia’s contract with the company. Golden Boy sent out a press release telling outlets that it is “seeking to ensure that Ryan and his team will honor the remainder of his contract.”
Recently, according to Jason Cruz of MMAPayout.com, Garcia’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss.
Mayweather himself spoke positively of Garcia recently, saying in an interview with FightHype.com that he would “absolutely” promote Garcia if he was in fact a free agent.
Despite the bad blood, De La Hoya recently stated that he expects to announce Garcia’ next fight soon.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.