Ryan Garcia just dropped a bombshell, saying straight up that “nobody wanted” Oscar De La Hoya at his WBC welterweight title defense against Conor Benn last Saturday. Garcia, who defended his title with a second-round TKO over Benn, held nothing back, even though he admits he wanted De La Hoya ringside.
The Setup and The Snub
It was Garcia’s fight, a Ring Magazine event, but Zuffa Boxing was the lead promoter, and their influence was clearly felt. Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia’s longtime promoter and a co-promoter for the Benn fight, was noticeably absent from the build-up and completely out of the picture on fight night. Garcia revealed on “The Ariel Helwani Show” that he had an iconic vision: “In the beginning, it was Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. that was going to walk out with me [on fight night], and I wanted to get maybe Oscar right there.” He added, “Oscar is a Mexican-American, Julio is a legend from Mexico. I just thought it would be cool. But honestly, nobody wanted him there. That’s the God’s honest truth.” Garcia didn’t name who “nobody” was, but it is well known that Zuffa Boxing’s Dana White and De La Hoya have had a tense relationship, which only escalated with White’s move into boxing.
“I Don’t Respect That”
Despite the sentiment that De La Hoya wasn’t wanted, Garcia admitted he didn’t “pick his battles” on the issue, stating he didn’t “really care who walks with me or not.” Still, the disappointment from Garcia was clear. “I wish Oscar was there. I wish he walked out with me. And I wish he would’ve been ringside no matter what,” Garcia said. He felt De La Hoya’s absence didn’t show the “love for me the way that I imagined somebody that’s been with me the whole time would.” Boxing journalist Dan Rafael reported that Zuffa Boxing did offer De La Hoya a ticket, but it wasn’t the seat he was contractually owed. Getting to it would have meant walking through the crowd, creating a legitimate security risk that made attendance essentially impossible. Golden Boy, as a co-promoter, also had fighters on the undercard but reportedly only received two tickets, which left them without backstage or commission access. Garcia confirmed the message beforehand: “They told me beforehand they don’t want Oscar there or to walk me out. I said, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ They were like, ‘But he does have a seat.’ But he didn’t show up.”
What’s wild is that De La Hoya hasn’t even contacted Garcia since the TKO win. This relationship, which has spanned nearly 10 years, has been strained for the last seven. Garcia summed up his frustration perfectly: “He just doesn’t want to show up for the people he’s supposed to love. What’s up with that? It’s like, ‘Bro, I don’t know.’ It’s weird.” It leaves you wondering if this is the end of the road for this partnership.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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