Undefeated lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia has erupted after Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya named hot welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz, and not Garcia, as the top rising talent in the company.
There has been tension between Garcia and Golden Boy in recent months.
This past weekend the two sides came to collision, after Garcia claimed that he was never informed that his opponent, Avery Sparrow, had a legal issue hanging over his head.
Sparrow was arrested prior to the official weigh-in.
Golden Boy offered a potential replacement in the form of Romero Duno, who was also on the card.
Garcia and his handlers claim that Golden Boy was not offering enough money for that fight - but Golden Boy President Eric Gomez initially claimed, on social media, that Garcia's team rejected the contest and there was no dispute over money. The tweet made it appear that Garcia was scared to take the fight.
“Ryan has a lot of voices in his ear right now,” De La Hoya said to The Los Angeles Times. “That’s fine. I’ve been through it myself but it’s unfortunate because the miscommunication isn’t between us, it’s between his people. We’re going to have an emergency meeting to get everything resolved and we’re going to move on. We’re fine.”
And De La Hoya is not concerned with his company star, Canelo Alvarez, retweeting Garcia's complaints on social media. Canelo and Garcia share the same trainer in Eddy Reynoso.
“That’s fine,” De La Hoya said. “I think it’s great that he’s supporting him. Canelo is mentoring Ryan just the way I mentored Canelo, and maybe one day Ryan can mentor the next guy. But he’s not a world champion.
“Is he my best young fighter? No. Maybe next to Vergil Ortiz. Vergil Ortiz is the real deal. Ryan is in a very unique situation because of his social media following. The fact that he has so many followers is great, but it hasn’t transcended over to boxing. It just hasn’t. That’s the bottom line.
“So how do we do that? He has to win a world title. And who knows how to get him there? I do. Don’t listen to all these voices in your ear telling you, ‘Hey, you have 3 million followers, you’re supposed to be getting paid this much.’ Don’t listen to them. Just trust the process and you will get there.”
But Garcia did not take too kindly to De La Hoya statements - and took to social media to respond.
"I don’t even want to speak about this stuff anymore but Oscar call me for real and stop going to the press! We haven’t talked at all. I want the best fights, I’m 21 I have the drive to be even better and i will continue to get better and fight the best fighters," Garcia stated.
"Oscar if you don’t believe in my talents then you can release me [so I can go] elsewhere. Point blank period! If you do [believe in me] then come talk to me. Please no more press and public bashing."
