By Dan Ambrose: Oscar De La Hoya says he wants to have Ryan Garcia take a tune-up fight in November to get him acclimatized to the 140-lb division before putting him in a mega-fight in January or February.
De La Hoya feels it would be a bad idea for Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) to jump straight into the light welterweight division against a tough opponent without first getting his feet wet to get adjusted to the weight class.
Oscar & Golden Boy will need to iron out there differences with Ryan Garcia before he’ll return to the ring. It’s believed that Ryan wants to leave Golden Boy. Whether he does remains to be seen.
Ryan mentioned recently wanting to challenge Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero next for his WBA 140-lb title, but that’s not going to happen because De La Hoya already has plans for his new Golden Boy Promotions signee Ohara Davies to challenge Rolly next for that belt.
Ohara is the WBA mandatory for Rolly’s belt, and De La Hoya says he’s going to make sure that he faces him next.
That’s obviously going to make Ryan Garcia an unhappy camper because he was hoping to face Rolly next, but now that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen unless he can put some pressure on Oscar.
It won’t be that easy since Ohara is the WBA mandatory, and he reportedly has no intentions of stepping aside and losing out on this golden opportunity to dethrone Rolly.
Of course, everyone has a price, and if De La Hoya can wave a million under the nose of Ohara, he might be willing to accommodate him to let Ryan take on Rolly.
Ryan Garcia possible for November
“The rules are the rules, and obviously, I believe Romero and his people are asking for some type of medical exemption, but yeah, we’re going to pursue that fight, and he’s the mandatory guy. So it’s a great fight,” Oscar De La Hoya said to Fighthype about his plans to match his new signee Ohara Davies against WBA light welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero next.
Rolly doesn’t want to fight Ohara next, as he had hoped to make his first defense of his WBA belt against Ryan after winning the title against Ismael Barroso. It’s unclear how a medical exemption would help Rolly circumvent having to defend against Ohara Davies, but perhaps that’s his way out of that requirement.
“No, the fight has to take place. That’s the bottom line, and we will do everything in our power to make that happen,” said De La Hoya. “Davies has been the number-one contender for quite a while now, so we’re going to pursue that fight. That’s the right thing to do for Ohara.”
If Rolly had the talent to be counted on to defeat Ohara, it wouldn’t be a big deal for him to take this fight next to get it out of the way, but he’s not. Rolly would be in huge danger of losing to Ohara if that fight happens next, and the chances are he would lose to him.
“For sure, Ryan Garcia is moving up to 140,” said De La Hoya. “I’m not sure exactly what place they ranked him in the WBA, Ryan Garcia, but since all this is now taking place with Ohara and Romero, we have options for Ryan Garcia to bring him back, possibly in November, Maybe and then he can fight a mega-fight if he wants for January or February.”
If Ryan Garcia is forced to stay with Golden Boy, it would be smart for them to choose a light hitter for his first fight at 140 because if they put him in with someone with power, he could get knocked out.
You got to imagine that anyone that faces Ryan from this point forward is going to be targeting his body after seeing him fold like a deck of cards against Gervontaa Davis last April in his seventh round knockout loss.
De La Hoya wants Ryan to take tune-up
“I personally haven’t talked to Ryan, obviously. My president Eric Gomez is talking to Ryan Garcia’s manager or, I believe, slash lawyer. There’s a communication problem somewhere along the line, but I think we’ll fix it,” said De La Hoya.
“Obviously, Ryan Garcia has a contract with Golden Boy, which he has to honor, and we’re going to honor and get them the best fights possible,” said De La Hoya.
It would be interesting to know what loophole Ryan will use to try and get released from the remainder of his contract with Golden Boy.
If he’s going to argue that he should be allowed to terminate his contract because De La Hoya wasn’t present at his post-fight press conference after his loss to Tank Davis, that might not work because Golden Boy president Eric Gomez was there.
“If Ryan moves up to 140, this is my advice because people have to remember, I’ve been there, and I’ve done that. So if he’s moving up to 140, he should have a tune-up fight at 1 40. He should get his feet wet at 140,” said De La Hoya.
Well, fighting Rolly would be like a tune-up for Ryan, so he wouldn’t need one if that fight were to happen next. But again, Ohara Davies is next in line to challenge Rolly because the World Boxing Association has ordered the fight.
“That’s what you do in boxing,” said De La Hoya. “Any expert, any whatever who knows boxing, will tell you, just don’t move up and fight the very best. You have to get your feet wet and take a tune-up.
“I hate calling them tune-ups, but somebody that’s going to challenge him at 140, and then you go after all the marbles. There are guys like Teofimo Lopez. There are guys out there who are ready and willing to fight him.
“The father called me, which is Teofimo Lopez Sr, called me and was like, ‘Oh, we have to make the fight.’ It’s a great fight [between Ryan and Teofimo].
“I’m just waiting for Ryan Garcia’s team to get a hold of me and/or Eric [Gomez] to start talking and start putting a deal together and depending on what route they want to go. So we’re just waiting because I’m the promoter, waiting on Ryan’s side.
“I’m the Promoter. On paper, I’m the promoter and we have to make it happen. We have to make it happen the right way, the correct way, contractually. That’s why people think, ‘Oh, why you sued him?’ I sued him just so he can honor his contract. That’s all we want,” said De La Hoya about Ryan Garcia.
