Oscar De La Hoya mends fences with Ryan Garcia, again warns about Zuffa

All-time-great fighter turned promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, set the record straight today about his recently repaired relationship with WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia, and reiterated his intense dislike and distrust of Dana White and Zuffa Boxing.

Responding to Garcia’s disappointment with remarks he made earlier this month (that Garcia’s September 12 matchup against Conor Benn is a fight that, “nobody is asking for,” and that a Garcia-Devin Haney rematch would have been a better fight to put together), De La Hoya says he met with Garcia recently and patched things up.

“Everything is great,” said De La Hoya of his relationship with Garcia. “We're going to make sure that this event is big… and that Ryan is treated the way he deserves… I believe the other day, Turki Alalshikh said that six plus million dollars have already been sold. So yeah, it's going to be a big event. I’m really looking forward to being part of it… It reminds me of when I promoted Floyd Mayweather versus Ricky Hatton back in the day. We had about 60,000 Brits who flew over to participate in the activities and it was such a special event. I kind of have that feeling now. I think about 20,000 will come over and want to support their very own in Conor Benn.

“He (Garcia) called for a sit-down conversation, which I gladly accepted,” De La Hoya recalled of the meeting. “I mean, he's a Golden Boy fighter. So, we just worked things out once again… I want to make sure this fight is the biggest it can be, and I want to make sure that Ryan is clearheaded enough to go out there and knock out Conor Benn.”

De La Hoya says he explained to Garcia why he previously said a Haney fight would have been a better choice. 

“I just feel like the Haney fight is better,” De La Hoya admitted to Ariel Helwani. “There's a lot of controversy and a lot of animosity with the father and Devin Haney. I've always wanted the Haney fight because I know that's the better fight. That's the fight where you'll see more drama, more action. I mean, imagine the intensity when that first bell rings… That's all I said.”

While the promoter’s turbulent relationship with Garcia appears to be positive again, his opinion of Dana White and Zuffa Boxing remains firmly rooted in the negative. Things between the two parties were only further exacerbated when De La Hoya was completely shut out of a recent press conference for Garcia-Benn held at Fanatics Fest in New York City, 

“How petty are these guys not to include me and not to make sure I’m on stage?” asked De La Hoya. “Are they afraid that I’m going to sock Dana in the nose? I mean, of course I’m going to be there. Of course I’m going to be front and center promoting Ryan Garcia. Everybody knows he's my fighter. He's the golden boy… That's what these people do. They tried to slip one by me. I really do believe they are trying to keep me away from Dana because they know what's going to happen.

These guys are the trojan horse... Just watch out. Trust me. Watch out. Because they are the trojan horse and the rest is history from there. They're (Zuffa) offering these guys a lot of money for one-fight, two-, five-, three-fight deals just to lure everybody in and just to let everybody know, oh my gosh, look at what we're doing. We're paying all this money. But, long-term, they're going to change the contracts up. They're going to lure you in just like the trojan horse. That's the bottom line and that's exactly what happened with Shakur Stevenson. He went for the big money. And it's a shame because we at DAZN, with all the promoters, have all the opponents. So, I don't understand what they're doing. I don't understand why they're separating themselves from the rest of the boxing world.”

De La Hoya also says he’s unimpressed with Zuffa Boxing’s first nine broadcasts. 

“It's just like another regular show,” he said. “There's nothing different. It’s a normal regular production that we all have seen over the years. The ridiculous part is the announcers. I mean, every little shot, every little graze, every little punch that's thrown, they're like it's the biggest thing in the world. I mean, come on guys, I know exactly what you're trying to do. It’s UFC 2.0 all over again.

"I really do feel that Zuffa is just wishy-washy, going back and forth. Oh, we're going to work with the organizations. Oh, we're not. We're going to work with other promoters. Oh, we're not. Make up your mind. You know? I don't know what you're doing. I mean, you put on an event yesterday, which I saw on Paramount, which by the way, Paramount has to be really angry at what they're doing and their ratings because the shows they're putting on, like Berlanga with this journeyman, uh, who, by the way, was a great fighter eight years ago. It's like, I don't know what I’m watching. They promised one thing and I’m watching another.”