On Friday afternoon, Golden Boy Promotions head Oscar De La Hoya offered a positive update around negotiations for a potential fight pitting budding contender Ryan Garcia against knockout artist Gervonta Davis.
De La Hoya said they were talking with Tank’s team and that the development was a great start, adding that Golden Boy was planning to keep everything hushed because they wanted to surprise the public with the fight announcement later this year.
By Saturday night, De La Hoya was singing a different tune when asked if there were any updates in the near 30-hour span since his previous statement.
“Zero whatsoever,” De La Hoya told Ellie Seckbach of ESNews. “Hey, we’re trying to get a hold of Tank’s side. We don’t know who to talk to. Nobody picks up their phone. Nobody calls back. I feel they’re playing games, so I’m moving on, and I’m going to Teofimo Lopez’s fight.”
Negotiations for high-profile matches usually have many twists, turns, and soap opera-like episodes, but for developments to be as swift and sudden as De La Hoya is alluding to is not ideal for the super fight.
Lopez will be making his 140-pound debut Saturday headlining a Top Rank card at Resorts World in Las Vegas against Pedro Campa.
After suing Bob Arum to get out of his contract during his fighting days, De La Hoya has done business with his former boss in recent years, coming to terms on several fights. The same can not be said for Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions – the company led by fighter of the decade and recent Hall of Fame inductee Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Although Mayweather and De La Hoya have had an adversarial relationship, the Golden Boy recently overly praised Mayweather for his career accolades.
De La Hoya now switching his stance to Lopez is an interesting one considering Garcia wants to continue his career at 140 pounds as well.
Moments after beating Javier Fortuna last month, when Garcia was asked who he’d like to fight if a dance with Davis never materialized, he expressed his desire to fight Lopez.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.