By Adam Baskin: Floyd Mayweather Jr took a shot at promoter Oscar De La Hoya today for his decision not to attend his fighter Ryan Garcia’s post-fight press conference last Saturday night after his loss to Gervonta Davis in Las Vegas.
Mayweather, who no longer promotes Tank Davis, says if he’d have lost, he would have stood behind him “100%.” Given that we haven’t seen Gervonta lose, we’ll have to take Mayweather at his word and assume that would be the because right now, with Tank facing weaker opposition and using rehydration clauses to improve his chances of winning, he’s not putting himself at risk of getting beaten.
De La Hoya said he didn’t attend Ryan’s post-fight press conference because he’d received death threats. You got to take Oscar at his word. He points out that the Golden Boy Promotions president was by Ryan’s side, so he was well covered.
“If Tank was to win or take a loss, I would’ve stood behind him 100%. If I’m with you, I’m with you through the good, bad, and ugly. Loyalty is a lifestyle, not an action,” said Mayweather today at the press conference for his latest exhibition match against a non-boxer.
If Floyd hopes that Ryan Garcia will leave Golden Boy and sign with Mayweather Promotions, it’s improbable. Even if Ryan were to leave Golden Boy, he wouldn’t want to isolate himself by signing with Mayweather because he doesn’t have anyone to fight other than Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, and he’s a fighter with marginal ability that doesn’t measure up to the top 140-pounders.
Rolly is the only guy Mayweather has, and he’d be food for the top light welterweights like Subriel Matias, Regis Prograis, Josh Taylor, Arnold Barboza, and Richardson Hitchins.
If Ryan were to sign with Mayweather Promotions, it would be interesting to see how they matched him. The criticism that Gervonta has taken is he never fought anyone good during his many years with Mayweather Promotions and failed to face the guys that would have made him a bigger star years ago.
If Tank Davis had fought Vasily Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson, Regis Prograis, Frank Martin, and Josh Taylor years ago, he’d be a much more popular fighter than he is today. Gervonta’s carer has arguably been stunted due to the soft match-making done by Mayweather Promotions.
