De La Hoya Will Now Make Garcia Vs. Romero
Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed that he will now focus on making Ryan Garcia vs Rolando Romero.
De La Hoya’s comments arrive after Garcia instructed his team to pull out of talks with Devin Haney. After his win over Regis Prograis, Garcia wanted Haney to become the WBC junior welterweight champion. Talks were set to begin, but Garcia changed his mind, claiming it was the right business move. Facing Romero allows Garcia to win the WBA 140-pound belt, which makes a future Haney fight even bigger since it would be for a unification. De La Hoya still hoped to make Haney vs Garcia, but this has now changed.
De La Hoya On Garcia
“Golden Boy has worked with Ryan Garcia since he turned pro, and together have made him the biggest draw in boxing. We will make his fight with Rolly into a huge event, as we always do,” De La Hoya said
This also raised questions about Garcia’s future. The decision to fight Romero came shortly after he was seen hanging in Floyd Mayweather’s company. Since Romero is a PBC fighter, the suggestion was that Garcia may have had advice from Mayweather. It also increased speculation that Garcia could sign with PBC.
He is currently in a legal battle with Golden Boy Promotions over an alleged breach of contract. De La Hoya responded by calling on Garcia to honor their contract. But reports stress that Garcia’s deal will end within a year, with no signs that he will be extending anytime soon. If that is the case, De La Hoya is understandably doing everything he can to keep Garcia’s team on board, even if his preference is the Haney fight.
Haney Vs. Garcia
“Ryan is young; he’s just now maturing. I strongly feel he has a lot of bad advice, I really do, and I feel for him because there are a lot of people out there who are going to give you the wrong advice. It’s a cruel world out there when you’re the top dog, and you’re the money maker, and you’re coming up, and you’re young.
“You have all these whispers in your ear. I just hope that Ryan finds that one person that is going to give him the best advice in the world and listens to him, and wants the best for him. “I thought I could be that person, but he listens to other people. It’s something I can’t control. All I can do is try to do is do the best job possible for him. He asked me to get Haney, and that’s what I’m going to gun for. Hopefully in March or April,” De La Hoya said
The pressure is on Garcia to beat Romero, provided the fight gets over the line. Otherwise, he may have pushed himself further back to get a shot at the title. But should he come out victorious, the prospects for further big fights will only increase.
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