Ryan Garcia is once again having trouble finding an opponent, and he and promoter Oscar De La Hoya just might be kicking up their on-again, only slightly off-again feud with one another.
De La Hoya said on January 16 that “all these fighters (are) pricing themselves out!!” with one of those cry-laughing emojis that he, 50, has seen the #teens do online.
But yesterday, De La Hoya Tweeted that a fight with Jose Ramirez, who just signed with Golden Boy, was “getting close and happening.”
This morning, the 25-year-old Garcia shot that down:
No Ramirez. Let’s make that clear.
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) January 18, 2024
Shortly after, he posted this:
Ryan Garcia vs Oscar De La Hoya at this point ♂️
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) January 18, 2024
The journey on this one has been interesting, to put it one way.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KO) returned to action on Dec. 2, beating Oscar Duarte via eighth round stoppage. He immediately called for a fight with WBA 140 lb titleholder Rolando “Rolly” Romero, but soon after changed direction, targeting WBC titleholder Devin Haney after polling fans on Twitter.
After the holiday season passed, Garcia swerved Haney, once again turning his attention to Romero.
Garcia and De La Hoya have had their spats before — many, many times before, and recently — and many have just been waiting for what has at times seemed inevitable, for the sides to really wind up in court similar to what happened between Golden Boy and Canelo Alvarez years back.
But that hasn’t fully happened yet, and the usual outcome for the bigger public beefs has actually been some sort of contract extension between the sides.
We’ll see what happens with the situation this time, but we don’t appear to be particularly close to the “major fight” De La Hoya promised we’d see from Garcia early this year, despite Golden Boy bulking up its roster at Garcia’s weight.