De La Hoya, Spence And Rolly’s Coach Speak On Ryan Garcia

Oscar De La Hoya has given his thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s next steps as the boxer attempts to bounce back from his loss to Gervonta Davis. 

Garcia was stopped in the seventh round with a brutal body shot by Davis, as the latter became the self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing.’

However, the post-fight diagnosis left a lot to be desired for Garcia. The fighter was accused of quitting after he got up from the body shot immediately after the referee counted him out.

Therefore, the perception was that Garcia avoided getting up in the fear that he would be stopped by Davis who was ready to pounce. 

Thereafter, Garcia parted ways with his trainer, Joe Goossen, as he moved up to junior welterweight. And in the process of doing so, Garcia hired Derrick James.

The latter is known for his strong emphasis on boxing fundamentals, as well as a boxing stable to rival the best of them. James’ stable includes Anthony Joshua, Jermell Charlo and even Errol Spence Jr. 

And that is exactly the type of environment that De La Hoya feels Garcia needs to succeed. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RvFljycrEM

“From my experience, he needs authority, he needs military. He needs someone that’s gonna f*****g tell him what to do, and not be afraid. Because I had that as well.

“The one trainer that I most respected, the one trainer that would get me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning when I didn’t wanna get up, was Floyd Mayweather Snr. I mean, he would literally throw a f*****g bucket of water over my head so that I would wake up.

“But that’s what I needed. So, if his new trainer, Derrick, if he’s gonna be that authority to Ryan….. I think Ryan is a sponge – he wants to learn; he wants to feel like somebody’s teaching him.

“So, yeah, I’m glad that he has Derrick as his trainer, because I know he’s gonna be there cracking the whip,” De La Hoya said

Spence On Garcia

And by the looks of it, James is having an impact. Errol Spence Jr. expanded on how Garcia was adapting to his new environment.

As of now, there appears to be a big difference in the boxer’s mindset compared to when Garcia was with Goossen.

The latter admitted that he would ‘collaborate’ with Garcia, rather than training him. This may have hinted at Garcia’s huge social media presence that he often utilised by showing off his boxing skills as he trained.

However, when it came to James, Spence highlighted how the coach is drilling in the fundamentals and laying down the law. 

“Derrick is going to help him a lot by making him more fundamentally sound, not standing up straight and throwing his punches correctly, and keeping his chin down.

“He’s definitely going to work with him a lot. He’ll listen to Derrick because Derrick is a no-nonsense type of guy. Of course, you can tell Derrick what you feel is right and what you want to do. 

“He’ll talk to you about it and see if it makes sense, and you’ ‘ll see if what he says makes sense and then go from there. I feel like Derrick will make him a better boxer than he is now.

“There was a lot of stuff that he was doing that shouldn’t have been done, and his coaches should have corrected him, but I don’t know if it was him or his coaches,” Spence

Rolly Vs. Garcia

And if Garcia can overcome those issues, then there will be huge fights available for him. The current WBA champion Rolando Romero’s coach, Bullet Cromwell, has urged Garcia to sign a contract that would make a fight between the pair. 

Garcia and Romero have made no secret over their desire to fight each other given that it would be a lucrative fight.

Not only that, but both fighters have a loss to Gervonta Davis with a chance to set things right by facing each other.

The fight would fastrack Garcia to a world title shot at a time where he has not had a single fight at 140 lbs, thus giving him a chance to get back to big time boxing very fast. 

With that being said, Bullet put Garcia on notice. 

“Well, we’re just waiting on contracts; we’re waiting on our negotiations between the team. I let manager Louie Decubas & Al Haymon handle the business side, and I’m going to handle the fight side. 

“Ryan Garcia, sign the contract, baby. You know what it is. You’ll finally get a shot at a world title. You know your boy, Rolly. He’s going to put you to sleep. You know what it is. It’s about murder, kill-kill,” Cromwell 

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