Promoter Oscar De La Hoya and his biggest star at the moment, Ryan Garcia, lit up social media over the last few days with a Twitter beef that opened eyes and generated tons of headlines.
The origins of the beef came from a few different sources. Most notable was the video that began to circulate on social media of Garcia speaking candidly about his disappointment in the way his team treated him after his high-profile April 22 loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“Thank God that he showed me everybody that you know may have not been working for me,” Garcia told YouTuber Bradley Martin. “If I won, I wouldn’t have got to see it. I lost, I seen everybody leave me…and then I started to see who was really here for me…After the fight, nobody was there for me. My team just didn’t come to the press conference…I was left with ‘somebody betrayed me in camp.’ They weren’t trying to look out for me after the fight…I was left with that….It was the worst. I had Tank’s team really care about me more than my own team.”
That set off De La Hoya, who hasn’t exactly been hard to set off in recent times. The founder and figurehead of Golden Boy Promotions would take to Twitter to counter Garcia’s words:
“Wtf @RyanGarcia it’s been almost two months and youre still crying about the post presser? The blame for your loss is on YOU and your “advisor” Lupe. He is the only one who pushed you to accept that INSANE rehydration clause and THAT is the reason you lost. Man up. Own that.”
“Also, you keep saying “tanks team offered more support for you” blah blah blah. Bro they SET YOU UP TO LOSE with that rehydration clause and most importantly…AL HAYMON DIDNT EVEN SHOW UP THE ENTIRE WEEK. Actually, he NEVER shows up. How’s that for “support”???”
“Not going to argue over social media. When you have time to sit down, man to man we can get you another huge payday.”
On Garcia’s side, the young fighter took public umbrage with the rumors, initiated by De La Hoya, regarding a possible Manny Pacquiao fight for Garcia.
The 24-year-old would then take his grievances to Twitter:
“This isn’t happening!!
I said what I wanted…
It’s frustrating.. tired of this”
Then, Garcia would turn his attention to De La Hoya and directly address his promoter:
“Weren’t you just promoting the fake Pac fight that I already told you I’m not accepting. You really think ima fall for that bull twice.”
“Okay buddy, you got it all figured out. Tired of you disrespecting my whole career and you think none of it matters. Loyalty and common sense is lost in your head. Stop treating people that way and think they will just accept it.”
“You know I’m about to fight this guy [referring to a photo tweeted by De La Hoya where a smiling De La Hoya is posing with Rolando “Rolly” Romero] and you go act buddy buddy with him. You don’t care about your fighters. Really tired of this fake act!! STOP THE CAP BE REAL FOR ONCE MAN. I can respect you more if you just told me the truth, you’re in it for the cash. No love lost.”
There’s clearly a lot of bad blood between these two. Looking back, though, the relationship has always been a rocky one. There have been several flare-ups since Garcia emerged as a main stage fighter. Although Garcia extended his contract with Golden Boy in 2019, the rough patches have remained and, clearly, are still part of the Garcia-De La Hoya dynamic.
