The drama between Ryan Garcia and his Golden Boy promoters is just the gift that keeps on giving. The sides squabble so much in public that one might wonder if it’s not just a deliberate marketing ploy of some sort, and today was no different as Garcia called out both Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins over their latest social media spat.
During today’s final press conference ahead of this weekend’s fight against Oscar Duarte, Garcia spoke his mind as De La Hoya could only grimace in the background.
“First and foremost I want to give thanks to the Most High, Jesus Christ,” Garcia began. “I also want to invite the Holy Spirit into this press conference, just always want to invite him. A couple things that I want to touch. One thing that’s been on my heart is the statements that Bernard made that he’ll decide if I finish or if I should continue boxing after this fight.
“He don’t decide that. My coach does, my team does, everybody that grinds with me day in and day out. That’s who decides. And ultimately God decides, not him. Nobody was telling him when to stop boxing. He stopped boxing at 45 so kudos to him but he don’t determine that.
“And another thing I want to touch on is Oscar saying we misinterpret what they say. It’s plain English. I didn’t hear anybody speaking any language I don’t know. So it’s very clear they’re backing this guy to beat me just like they thought Duno was gonna beat me; he was the next Filipino star, they saying (Duarte) is the next Mexican star.
“You know what, I put everything into this fight. For the first time I’m extremely committed in a long time. 2021 was the time that kind of broke me. 2022, you know, changed me. 2023 opened my eyes and I’m about to come back, come back for everything. I’m just laser focused and that’s where my confidence comes from.”