De La Hoya Could Sue Ryan Garcia Over The Rukiya Anpo Fight

Oscar De La Hoya could sue Ryan Garcia for his upcoming fight against Rukiya Anpo based on his comments in his latest ‘Clap Back Thursday’ segment.

Garcia is on course to have his first fight since beating Haney in April when he secured a shock majority decision win. However, the result became a no contest as Garcia failed VADA tests for Ostarine. He was subsequently banned for a year, meaning he could not box professionally until April 2025. That left Garcia with a decision to make. He could either stay busy in the gym or train to keep himself in shape. Alternatively, he could pursue exhibition bouts to stay sharp and earn money before securing the big fights on his return. 

He chose the latter by agreeing on a deal to face Anpo in an exhibition on December 30 in Tokyo, Japan. The press conference took place this week with the kickboxer pushing Garcia, who claimed he would punish him in the ring. While that may be the case, Golden Boy Promotions were absent from the press conference. De La Hoya reacted to the press conference by stating that Golden Boy needs to sign off on any of Garcia’s fights before they go ahead.

Garcia Vs. Apno

“Golden Boy Promotions has exclusive rights to Ryan Garcia’s fights. The organizers of this event have acknowledged as such and have agreed in writing that our sign-off is needed for this event to occur. As no such sign-off has been given, as of today there is no event with Ryan Garcia,” De La Hoya stated

That has yet to happen, raising question marks over whether the fight will go ahead. Garcia and De La Hoya have previously been involved in legal problems. Ryan accused De La Hoya of a breach of contract, as they subsequently filed lawsuits against each other. Their issues were resolved. However, during this period, Garcia publicly slammed De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins during the press conference for his Oscar Duarte fight. Those issues were gone once Ryan had his fight with Haney. But now it appears that they have come back. Oscar said he does want Ryan to fight. However, he also wants their contract upheld.

De La Hoya Reacts

“I’m not sure if you saw the press conference for the upcoming exhibition fight of Ryan Garcia vs. Rukiya Anpo. It took place in LA on Tuesday, and I was not there because Ryan’s team thought they could negotiate this entire deal behind my back. Everyone is aware I have the global rights to Ryan Garcia’s fights. So what the [hell]. When you sign a contract, it means it’s legally binding and it means you must abide by the terms or risk getting sued.

“This [This] is what we unfortunately have to do if Golden Boy is not included in this fight. And for any [person] who says, I’m trying to block this fight, you are stupid. And I want Ryan to make money. I want him to fight, but I demand he honors his contract. I mean, let’s say you grew some [courage] and started a business. Would you, as the owner, let things slide and give certain people a pass? What would you just take it? No, you wouldn’t and neither am I,” De La Hoya stated

Comments

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.