By Matt Lieberman: Ryan Garcia’s insistence on fighting either Manny Pacquiao or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next makes Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya’s job harder than it already is.
De La Hoya would like to get the unbeaten interim WBO lightweight champion Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) back into the ring next month in April. Still, he’s facing a major obstacle in him wanting to fight Pacquiao or Tank.
De La Hoya would like to match Ryan up against WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney after making his May 15th defense against Jorge Linares on DAZN.
Ryan not interested in fighting Devin Haney
However, Ryan has been cool to the idea of facing Haney, telling his fans and promoter Eddie Hearn that he’s not interested in facing him.
So unless De La Hoya can convince Ryan to change his mind about facing Haney, he’s going to miss out. It’s better now for Ryan to face Haney to take his career to the next level because he needs that fight.
Like a dog that won’t let go of an old bone, Ryan is not letting go of the two premier fights he desires against Gervonta (24-0, 23 KOs) or Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) next.
It’s a massive hurdle for Golden Boy CEO De La Hoya to set-up a fight with welterweight Pacquiao, but to make the fight during the pandemic without a huge audience, it’s problematic.
De La Hoya wants to placate King Ryan, but it’s not possible now. Pacquiao came out earlier on Tuesday, saying that he’s leaning toward a fight with former four-division world champion Mikey Garcia.
He’s also not ruling out entirely WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford. It’s clear from what Pacquiao says that it’s not going to work out for Ryan this time.
Pacquiao wants a proven champion or former champ, and Ryan doesn’t fit that category. He’s an interim lightweight champion, and that’s not the same as being a real belt-holder.
De La Hoya working on Ryan’s next fight
“We have a kid in Ryan who wants to go straight to the top, and I don’t blame him,” De La Hoya told Fight Freaks Unite. “We’re working on Ryan’s next fight, but obviously, with the whole Pacquiao situation, it was never on the table.
“When you have Ryan Garcia sending a post on Instagram, the world is going to hear about it, and he kind of tied our hands behind our back when he announced he only wants to fight…Pacquiao or ‘Tank’ Davis.
“As you know, those are two fights that are almost impossible to make right now,” said De La Hoya.
Ryan got ahead of himself when he announced to his followers on Instagram that he was fighting Pacquiao next, which Golden Boy couldn’t fulfill.
On the topic of Tank and Pacquiao, Ryan comes across like a spoiled kid right now, seemingly unable to grasp that his parents [Golden Boy] have said ‘no’ to his wish for those fights, and he’s just not letting go.
It would be better for Ryan to understand the limitations that Golden Boy is working with right now with the network issues and the pandemic. They can’t give him the fights he wants against Tank or Pacquiao, and he’s not going to help his career if he doesn’t move on and face someone else.
“Haney would be a great fight to make,” said De La Hoya. “When you have Ryan only wanting to fight Pacquiao or Tank, we still have to work. Hopefully, sooner or later, we can talk some sense into him and get something done. We’re hoping by late April,” said De La Hoya about when he’d like to get Ryan out next.
Golden Boy wanted to match Ryan against Jorge Linares, which would have been a great fight, but that match is now impossible because Jorge is facing WBC champion Devin Haney, next on May 15th.
If Haney beats Linares, he’ll be useless to him, perhaps permanently. Linares has already lost 2 out of his last 5.