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Taha Qureshi

Oscar De La Hoya says Golden Boy Promotions responsible for reviving Garcia - Davis fight


During their recent press trip, Oscar De La Hoya praised Ryan Garcia's unwavering commitment to taking on Gervonta Davis.


Garcia's promoter, "The Golden Boy," gave himself and his staff a virtual pat on the back for making sure the agreement for the most publicized fight on the boxing calendar was completed. De La Hoya didn't elaborate, but he did tell a small group of reporters that the fight wouldn't have taken place if Golden Boy Promotions hadn't made sure of it as talks dragged on in February after a press conference at Palladium Times Square.


“It actually was in trouble and, you know, I’m proud to say that Golden Boy are the ones who revived it,” De La Hoya said. “So, we took it to the finish line and we’re very proud of that. So, the fact that Ryan wanted it, the fact that we revived it, just goes to show you that we’ve always wanted to work with all the promoters. We’ve always wanted to work with the very best to make these fights happen. That’s all we want is to make the best fights happen.”


On April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) of Baltimore and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, will face off. At a catch weight of 136 pounds, their 12-round battle will be the main event of a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View card.


Garcia agreed to a rehydration clause that forbids him from gaining more than 10 pounds over the contracted maximum on the day of their fight in addition to weighing in again at or near the 135-pound lightweight limit. Garcia's most recent contest, a sixth-round TKO of Javier Fortuna on July 16 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, had a 140-pound contract weight.


Additionally, Garcia agreed to a rematch clause that gives Davis the right to a quick rematch if Garcia wins. If Davis prevails, Garcia would not be entitled to a rematch.


“You know, you have to respect Ryan Garcia for it,” De La Hoya said. “It’s unheard of to give so many concessions up, but that’s how badly he wanted it. That’s how motivated he is to win this fight April 22nd.”

De La Hoya hopes the finalization of Davis-Garcia leads to his company and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions working together on more fights in the foreseeable future.


“It’s a perfect testament to what we wanna get done here, not only for this fight, but for the sport in general,” De La Hoya said. “We wanna make sure the big fights happen for boxing.”

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