By Allan Fox: Oscar De La Hoya admits that he’s worried about putting his highly popular fighter Ryan Garcia in with the well-seasoned former three-division world champion Jorge Linares at this early point in his career. The 21-year-old Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) could lose, says De La Hoya.
Putting Ryan in with a talented fighter like Linares, who recently gave Vasily Lomachenko problems, could be a mistake by Golden Boy. Ryan Garcia still hasn’t been put in with an opponent that is somewhat close to the level that Linares (47-5, 2 KOs) is currently fighting at right now.
Garcia’s last two opponents were Francisco Fonseca and Romero Duno. Neither of those guys is near the level where Linares is fighting at this point.
Oscar is less concerned about his fighter 22-year-old welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr (15-0, 15 KOs), who he feels is good enough to win a world title right now at 147. Ortiz Jr is more advanced than Ryan Garcia and is ready to win a title right away.
What Ryan has going for him is that “moves the needle” in terms of bringing in the fans, and De La Hoya confesses that he doesn’t have anyone else besides Canelo Alvarez that can do that.
De La Hoya wanted to have Ryan Garcia headline a Golden Boy card on July 4, but he turned down the offer made to him for the fight. Oscar says the offer was more than the rumored $200,000.
That card won’t be happening now. Oscar instead is having Vergil Ortiz Jr headline on July 24 against journeyman Samuel Vargas. It’s a showcase fight for Ortiz Jr.
De La Hoya excited about Ryan vs. Linares
“These guys are going back and forth on Twitter and Instagram, and it’s actually building up the fight,” said De La Hoya to Ring TV on Ryan Garcia and Jorge Linares.
“Once we do put that fight together, it’s going to be one of those fights that you don’t want to miss. That’s what I’m talking about with Ryan. He’s so popular. We don’t know how great he can be in the ring yet,” said De La Hoya.
Ryan Garcia and Jorge Linares is a fight that could take place later this year in September or October, but we’ll need to see if the travel ban is still in place. Linares is someone that Devin Haney is also interested in, and he stated recently that he would like to fight him if he can’ t get his first choice, Ryan Garcia.
Ryan and Linares have been going back and forth on social media, and there’s already a lot of fan interest in the match. Whether Golden Boy can put that fight together for September or October will depend on what they over Ryan.
With a fighter like Linares, Ryan Garcia is going to want to be paid well because it’s going to interest a lot of fans. If Ryan turns down the offer from Golden Boy, it’ll be interesting to see what direction Oscar makes next. Will he just let King Ryan sit idle and go stale on the sidelines, or will he increase the offer?
You’re my best view meh pic.twitter.com/uwtsyR9aYK
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) June 24, 2020
Oscar worried about King Ryan fighting Linares
“So we have to do our job as promoters and make sure we match him up perfectly with guys like Linares with guys that are going to take him to the next level. and can possibly even beat him,” said De La Hoya.
“I saw Linares train the other day, he sent the video over, and he looks like a machine,” said De La Hoya. “He looks incredible. So when I look at a fight between Ryan and Linares, it’s a fight that worries me. Should I put Ryan in with Linares just now or should I throw him in with the lions?” said Oscar.
De La Hoya has to find out eventually whether Ryan Garcia can cut the mustard at the world level, so it’s logical for him to put him in with Linares. What this writer doesn’t like about the Garcia-Linares fight is it’s too big of a jump from the opposition than Ryan has been recently fighting.
Going from Duno and Fonseca to Linares is too of a jump. De La Hoya might be letting Linares’ recent loss to 140-pound contender Pablo Cesar Cano color his view of him.
That was a situation in which Linares moved up to 140, a weight class he’d never fought at, and a big shot caught him from Cano early in round one. Cano subsequently dropped Linares three times.
If Linares fought Cano again, there’s a chance he would beat him because he would be more careful. Linares is a lot better fighter than what he showed in the Cano fight.
In Linares’ wins over Carlos Morales, Al Toyogon, and Mercito Gesta, he looked nothing short of sensational. Linares beat Morales with ease in stopping him in the fourth round last February on Valentines’ Day.
Should Golden Boy release Ryan Garcia?
It doesn’t help Golden Boy or DAZN if Ryan Garcia isn’t fighting for them. De La Hoya says there are outside promoters that want to take Ryan away from Golden Boy, but if he’s not going to be able to match him, then maybe he should part ways.
Letting Ryan go might make it easier on De La Hoya and Golden Boy. They wouldn’t have to worry about paying Ryan what he’s asking for, and it’s one less problem. De La Hoy seems convinced that Vergil Ortiz Jr will be the next star for his promotional company.
With the money that Golden Boy saves by letting Ryan Garcia leave, they can give that to the Maidana-like Ortiz. The problems should be solved, right? If Golden Boys offers to Ryan get rejected repeatedly, then why keep him?
You can bet that if Ryan keeps winning, he’s going to leave Golden Boy anyway when his contract with them is up. Why would he stay with De La Hoya openly backing Vergil Ortiz Jr as the next star for the company?
Ryan Garcia would likely get the attention that he craves if he were to fight for another promotional company, and it wouldn’t be as much of a problem as it is now.
