Oscar De La Hoya expressed optimism Thursday regarding Ryan Garcia challenging Devin Haney in his next fight.
The founder of Golden Boy Promotions expects negotiations to intensify after his company’s event Saturday night at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), the newly crowned WBC super lightweight champion, and Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) have publicly confirmed their interest in facing each other next on social media.
The rivals have history as amateurs and have long discussed fighting as professionals. DAZN streamed their most recent fights, which should help the negotiating process between Golden Boy, Garcia’s promoter, and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which works with Haney.
“I have instructions from Ryan Garcia personally, that he wants Devin Haney,” De La Hoya told a group of reporters following a press conference Thursday to promote the card headlined by Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Fredrick Lawson on Saturday night. “I think that fight is a spectacular [fight] and it’ll be a special fight. I think, you know, Devin Haney right now is on top of his game. He looked spectacular against [Regis] Prograis.
“He proved that he’s a, you know, one of the best at 140 pounds because the weight class is stacked, stacked with a lot of talent at 140. So, I think Ryan Garcia versus Haney, that’s the fight to make. I’ve already talked to his people, to Haney’s people, and we’re gonna get this done, hopefully sooner than later.”
De La Hoya also indicated that Garcia’s star status won’t complicate matters when they’re trying to finalize a deal for what would be one of the more intriguing fights within the 140-pound division.
Garcia’s seventh-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis on April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas reportedly generated approximately 1.2 million buys and $22.8 million in ticket sales. Haney has established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport and his last fight – a 12-round domination of Prograis on December 9 – attracted a crowd in excess of 16,000 to Chase Center in San Francisco.
Haney-Prograis pay-per-view revenue paled in comparison to that of Davis-Garcia, but De La Hoya doesn’t intend to let that prohibit him from making a “fair” deal for Haney, of Henderson, Nevada, and Garcia, of Victorville, California.
“I think this whole ‘A’ side, ‘B’ side nonsense is about to stop in 2024,” De La Hoya said. “I think when you take a look at fighters and their abilities to sell tickets, their abilities to be world champions and fight and really get the fans engaged, I think that’s what matters the most. But the ‘A’ side, the ‘B’ side, who sold more pay-per-views, who didn’t, I mean, it’s always controversial, it’s always a debate. We know Ryan sells. We were involved in one of the biggest fights in 2023, with Tank Davis and Ryan.
“Haney is a tremendous fighter, he’s got tremendous skill, tremendous ability, so you have to weigh in everything and take [it] into consideration. But the one thing we do, and we can do, is be fair – fair to the fighters in what they deserve and fair to the fighters in what their market value is. If you [ask] me right now whose market value is higher, obviously, and it’s no secret, it’s Ryan Garcia. So, but one thing about us at Golden Boy, because I was a fighter myself, we are very fair in negotiating.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.