De La Hoya Teases Something Big For Ryan Garcia’s Next Fight
Oscar De La Hoya says Ryan Garcia’s next fight will be big following the collapse of the Rolando Romero fight.
Garcia had withdrawn from talks with Devin Haney to pursue the fight with Romero. Talks broke down after De La Hoya claimed Romero wanted too much money as Jose Ramirez was put forward for Garcia. Ryan rejected the proposal, and Romero hit out at Garcia’s team for trying to make a fight with Isaac Cruz.
“F— Princess Ryan Garcia, f— Oscar De La Fishnets, and f— DAZN, the s—tiest streaming network out there, for wasting my time and more important wasting the entire boxing world’s time. It’s disgusting to see how you guys do business, then trying to go behind my back offering [Isaac Cruz] an offer, then claiming I [priced myself out]. Y’all f—ed up. Now it’s Rolly vs Pitbull on Amazon Prime, the largest network in boxing history. This fight is an explosion,” Romero said
Garcia responded, stating he was confident boxing the WBA Junior Welterweight Champion on April 20, 2024. However, negotiations ended as Romero vs Isaac Cruz was announced on the Keith Thurman vs Tim Tszyu card. That has left Garcia with plenty to consider, but De La Hoya reassured fans of a huge fight.
De La Hoya On Garcia
“We have April 20th, that’s our date. I’m going to announce something really, really big when it gets signed. You never know, maybe he moves up to 147lbs; who knows?” De La Hoya said
A fight at 147 only makes sense if Terence Crawford vacates his belts and Garcia is in a position to fight for them. He could face Mario Barrios, the current WBC Interim Welterweight Champion. But Garcia must move up in the pecking order since he does not hold a world title. If the aim is to stay at 140, then De La Hoya was open to making the winner of the Romero-Cruz face-off against Garcia.
“I think Rollies fighting Cruz is a great appetizer for what’s to come for Ryan. You know, but the winner of that fight can actually get into the sweepstakes, the Ryan sweepstakes. So, yeah, I’m glad actually they’re fighting because that’s the appetizer for Ryan,” De La Hoya added
Garcia’s Options
Nevertheless, Garcia’s image has been tarnished by his behaviour. He has shown that he is challenging to work with, given that fights with Haney and now Romero have fallen through. While he does have a massive social media following, the fact is that his leverage will decrease if he cannot secure those world title fights.
His next opponent will have to be a competitive one to satisfy the fan base. The only other big name left at 140, who is currently available is Subriel Matias. But that is a dangerous fight for Garcia, given that all his wins have come by knockout. But with the world title still elusive, Garcia must win sooner rather than later to keep his stock high.
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