During a video interview with Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya talks a bit about Ryan Garcia’s upcoming fight against Emmanuel Tagoe, Garcia being roundly criticized as a part-time boxer, and if there are any big fights on the horizon for Garcia — including why a fight against Isaac Cruz never came to fruition. Check out some of what De La Hoya had to say below.
De La Hoya on Garcia receiving criticism for not being a dedicated fighter
“I don’t know how people are even talking about that. Ryan Garcia’s one of the most disciplined fighters on the planet today, one of the hardest workers in boxing today. So, look, the fact that he had to deal wit his mental issues, the fact that he had a broken right hand — it happens. And he did the right thing; he took some time off, he’s still dealing with mental health issues, he dealt with his right hand, and he’s healthy, now it’s time to get down to business.
“It was only 15 months. Who hasn’t taken time off for those reasons…I think it’s unfair that people would criticize Ryan Garcia because he’s one of the hardest workers out there.”
On if Garcia will be in a notable fight this year
“I strongly feel he’s ready. I strongly feel that Ryan Garcia getting past Tagoe, a fighter who is durable, a fighter who is from Ghana, a fighter who has incredible conditioning, a fighter who can take a punch — how is Ryan’s hand going to react, how is his head going to react? It’s going to be quite interesting to watch unfold as the rounds go by. Once he gets past Tagoe I plan on going to Australia to watch Kambosos and sit down with Lou (DiBella) and hopefully iron out a deal for Ryan and Kambosos and make that happen by the end of the year.”
On why a fight with Isaac Cruz never materialized
“I actually made an offer to Cruz, a million dollar offer, way more than what he got paid for Tank, and way more than what he was gonna make against Gamboa. So the fact that they did not give him the offer is not my fault. If he didn’t hear the offer from his handlers it’s not my fault. There was an offer of a million dollars. I’m not gonna lie, boxing is my blood, boxing is what I love doing. Boxing, the best fights, I want to make them happen, let’s do it. It’s not my fault that other handlers or other promoters are not relaying messages to their fighters.
“We made a million dollar offer to Cruz, and I’m not saying that Cruz didn’t take it, they never presented that offer to him. They have their own agenda. You know how PBC is, they fight their own fighters and they never like to go across the street and challenge anybody else. That’s exactly what happened and it’s pretty sad because like that we can’t make fights. We want to make the fights, we want to make them happen and like that we just can’t make fights happen. And what happens, the sport loses, the fans lose.”