The bad blood between Ryan Garcia and Golden Boy apparently still persists.

In a recent interview with Brian Custer on The Last Stand Podcast, the native of Victorville, Calif., took issue with some claims made by Bernard Hopkins, one of the key brass at Golden Boy Promotions, ahead of Garcia’s upcoming 140-pound fight with Oscar Duarte on Dec. 2 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The fight marks Garcia’s debut as a junior welterweight.  

Garcia, 25, has been at odds with Golden Boy, especially founder Oscar De La Hoya, ever since he was knocked out by Gervonta Davis in their high-profile fight in April. Garcia castigated his promoter for being a no-show at the post-fight press conference, which prompted a vitriolic rebuttal from De La Hoya himself. The two are now in litigation over Garcia’s contract.

The announcement of the Dec. 2 fight seemed to suggest that both sides were willing to put their personal animosity aside.

But the interview with Custer clearly shows there are raw feelings between the fighter and his handler.

Custer cited an interview with Fighthype.com in which Hopkins seemed to cast doubt on Garcia’s future when he said, “I will see how Ryan looks and then make my personal decision on whether he should fight again.”

That line set Garcia off.

“What does he mean, ‘I’ll make the decision?’” Garcia said. “He ain’t gonna make sh!t. He can’t make sh!t about me. The crazy thing is I’mma box my ass off … for a team that don’t even believe in me, but damn they’ll collect that money that I’m making them. They collect that $6 million, though, but you don’t know if I should box again? But you made that money off that [Davis] fight, though. Yeah, shut up. 

“Watch, when I win, I’mma gonna look at them, ‘Bro, don’t even mess with me.’ Don’t even mess with me. I’m so sharp right now, I have no worries that I’m going to look great, amazing. They’ll be like a salty ex, like, ‘f---, I wish I stayed with him. I wish I was nice to him. Why didn’t I speak better to him. Please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, comeback, baby, come back’—shut up!”

Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) was perplexed why his own promoter would try to diminish him, especially considering there is no one else on the Golden Boy roster who can rival his commercial appeal.

“I’m just tired, like, how does your own team talk sh!t about you?” Garcia said. “Think about that. Think about it. Why would your own team talk sh!t about you. That makes no sense. Why would you do that? I’m their only fighter. What other fighter is going to make them money? None. So why would you disrespect your only superstar fighter right now.”

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.