Oscar De La Hoya is as giddy as anyone else in the boxing world to see Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis trade punches next year.
Lightweight stars Garcia and Davis both announced on their social media accounts this week that they would face each other next year in Las Vegas. The exact date and venue has not yet been determined, but the 12-round bout will take place at a contracted weight of 136 pounds.
Negotiations between Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) and Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) lasted for weeks due to the complicated nature of the broadcasting rights. Garcia, whose promoter Golden Boy, De La Hoya’s company, has an exclusive deal with DAZN, while Davis, a client of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, is backed by Showtime.
In the end, a resolution was reached by all parties. As BoxingScene.com reported, the fight will air on Showtime Pay-Per-View and use Showtime’s broadcast and production teams but will also be available for purchase on DAZN.
But the fight is not technically a done deal. De La Hoya and DAZN’s Executive Vice President Joe Markowski both indicated publicly that contracts have yet to be swapped and signed. Moreover, Davis will have an interim bout before facing Garcia. Davis said on his social media that he will return to the ring on Jan. 7 in Washington D.C. against an unnamed opponent in what will be a Showtime Pay-Per-View event.
In his first verbal remarks after the announcement was made, De La Hoya took to Twitter to offer a few preliminary remarks. De La Hoya said his team had “bent over backwards” to make the fight happen with Showtime and PBC. De La Hoya has frequently criticized PBC’s Haymon and Showtime for being “obstructionists” as it relates to making fan-friendly fights. De La Hoya, however, nixed what would have been an alluring fight between his charge Jaime Munguia and WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, in a Showtime-televised fight, earlier this year because it did not involve DAZN's participation.
Davis-Garcia, fortunately for fans, seems to have followed a different trajectory.
“It’s going to be one of those fights you won’t want to miss,” De La Hoya said in an Instagram Live video. “Super excited, man. Look, Golden Boy, myself, like, literally, I want to bring the best fights to you, that’s it. That’s what we do best, basically. Ryan wanted this fight. Tank wants this fight, so we’ve come to terms.
“We bent over backwards making everything happen, making sure everybody’s happy. All we need to do is sign on the dotted line. I’m happy that DAZN and Showtime are gonna work together to bring you guys this special fight.”
“We’re close,” De La Hoya added. “We’re waiting for the contracts to be signed. That’s basically it. Both fighters want it, we all agreed on everything. Like I said, we’re extremely proud, extremely, extremely proud to be bringing you this big fight.”
De La Hoya offered a predictable encomium toward his charge, Garcia.
“Let’s talk about who we think is going to win,” De La Hoya said. “I have to go with Ryan, obviously, because he’s my Golden boy fighter. But not only that, I think that Ryan has the speed, power, the intellect, the ring generalship, he has that height, he has that quick-twitch movement.
"It’s gonna be interesting. It’s gonna be fun to watch. It’s one of those fights whoever makes the first mistake is gonna get caught and possibly get knocked out which is why you don’t want to miss this fight.”
