Junior welterweight contender Ryan Garcia claimed at Thursday"s news conference that Hall of Fame fighters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, his promoters at Golden Boy, are “backing" his opponent, Oscar Duarte, to defeat him Saturday in Houston.
Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) is also promoted by Golden Boy, but it"s Garcia who is the star fighter and -425 favorite to win the bout, per ESPN BET.
Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) is coming off a seventh-round TKO defeat to Gervonta Davis in April in the biggest commercial event in boxing in years.
“One thing that"s been on my heart is the statements that Bernard made where he"ll decide if I"m going to finish or if I should continue boxing after this fight,"
said Garcia, 25.
The last time I checked, he said he"d never lose to a white boy, and then Joe Smith Jr. knocked him out of the ring [in Hopkins" final fight]. The last time I checked, Joe Smith Jr. was white.
Ryan Garcia cooked Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins right in front of them 😳 pic.twitter.com/JSIHVdqbor
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) November 30, 2023
Ryan Garcia (born August 8, 1998) is a Mexican American professional boxer. As of May 2023, he is ranked as the world"s fourth-best active lightweight by The Ring magazine, seventh-best by BoxRec, eighth-best by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the sixth-best active junior welterweight by ESPN.
Thursday afternoon, De La Hoya responded to Garcia"s assertions in a since-deleted social media post.
“I have to say that I"m really concerned about Ryan Garcia"s state of mind,"
De La Hoya wrote on X.
Thursday"s comments from Garcia came one day after De La Hoya, the founder of Golden Boy Promotions, addressed a back-and-forth between Hopkins and Garcia that played out in the media.
“Bernard and I have spent decades putting on the biggest events in the sport – including Ryan"s last fight which generated $30 million for him,"
De La Hoya wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.
Oscar De La Hoya (born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008.
De La Hoya was nicknamed “The Golden Boy of boxing" by the media when he represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics where, shortly after having graduated from James A. Garfield High School.
La Hoya was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1995, and was its top-rated fighter in the world, pound for pound, in 1997 and 1998.
He announced his retirement as a fighter in 2009, following a professional career spanning 16 years.
In 2002, De La Hoya founded Golden Boy Promotions, a combat sport promotional firm that also owns a 25% stake in the Houston Dynamo.
He is the first American of Mexican descent to own a national boxing promotional firm, and one of the few boxers to take on promotional responsibilities while still active.
In 2018, he began promoting MMA matches as well, beginning with a 2018 trilogy bout between long-time rivals Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, with the inaugural Golden Boy MMA event taking place on November 24, 2018.
De La Hoya has held dual American and Mexican citizenship since 2002, when the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles granted him Mexican citizenship, reflecting his heritage.
Garcia alleged in June via a demand letter that his promotional contract with Golden Boy had been breached.
The allegations laid out in that letter prompted a response from Golden Boy in the form of a lawsuit filed later that month in the U.S. District Court of Nevada to enforce its contract with Garcia. The case is in progress.
