Ryan Garcia knows that certain people didn’t want Oscar De La Hoya at his fight, but he still would have liked him to show up.
This past weekend, Garcia squared off with Conor Benn in a highly-publicized fight, stopping Benn inside of two rounds. The fight was a co-promotion between Zuffa Boxing and De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and given the long history of bad blood between De La Hoya and Dana White, many wondered how things would go with the two of them there together. But we never found out because De La Hoya did not attend the event.
Afterward, a report emerged claiming that De La Hoya was denied a credential, something White denied outright. But whether or not De La Hoya was allowed to attend, Garcia acknowledges that he originally intended to walk out with his promoter, before realizing that De La Hoya was not wanted, even if he was allowed in.
“In the beginning, it was Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. that was going to walk out with me, and I wanted to get, maybe Oscar right there,” Garcia told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I think that would be iconic. Honestly, nobody wanted him there, and that’s the god honest truth.”
When asked to clarify who “nobody” was, Garcia chose not to give a direct answer, saying only, “You know who I mean,” and stating that he ultimately chose not to have De La Hoya with him because of this, but also saying he was still disappointed that his promoter did not come anyway.
“Sometimes you’ve got to pick your battles,” Garcia said. “That’s not a battle I really wanted to pick. I’ll say this though, I wish Oscar was there, I wish he would have walked out with me, and I wish he would have been ringside no matter what. That would have showed his love for me, the way I’d imagine somebody who has been with me the whole time to do.
“OK, that don’t want to let you walk out, they did have a seat for you though, and you didn’t take that seat. I don’t respect that and that disappointed me.”
Per boxing reporter Dan Rafael, De La Hoya did have a ticket to the event provided, but not where he was was contractually supposed to be seated and would have had to walk through the crowd to attend.
Garcia also added that he hasn’t heard from De La Hoya since the event, which also bothered him.
“I don’t know why he’s like that,” Garcia said. “He just doesn’t want to show up for the people he’s supposed to love. I don’t know. He’s weird, bruh. He’s missing a part of himself. I don’t know what it is. I started my career with him, I looked up to him, and just for him to let his emotions get like that is really disappointing. Where’s your maturity? Something’s off. He’s living in the past. It’s weird.
“I didn’t care for him to be a part [of fight week],” Garcia concluded, “but how special would it have been, he’s not there at all and then shows up on my walkout?”
Garcia has been signed to Golden Boy Promotions since 2016, with De La Hoya promoting him for almost the entirety of his career. However, the last few years have been strained between the two, with Garcia even making a point to mention that this was the final fight on his current contract with Golden Boy.
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Scott Coker’s Ki MMA.
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Fighter vs. Writer.
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Not gonna lie, something like this gives me even less confidence in this project.
But like, that one on the right is a sick fight poster.
It is simply way too easy to trigger Jon Jones.
Jon Jones he also spent a portion of the night big upping some very angry comments about Tom Aspinall. But he’s definitely not mad. Don’t put it in the paper that he’s mad.
Firm agree.
Good to know.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Renato Moicano (21-7-1) vs. Tom Nolan (11-1); UFC Fight Night, Oct. 31.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
I dunno man, on the one hand, technically nothing Ryan Garcia said was wrong. On the other hand, the way he said it makes me think he’s not exactly speaking entirely in good faith there.
“They didn’t want him there, I didn’t want him part of Fight Week, and I changed my mind about him walking me out, but like, why didn’t he show up?” Especially if the Rafael reporting is legit and they just got Oscar a seat in the crowd. Garcia seems almost certain to be signing with Zuffa, so you’re going just to be disrespected and humiliated? I’d probably pass too.
Then again, it’s Oscar. It’s also entirely possible his reason for not attending is something much worse.
Not any heroes in this particular story.
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