“I Used to Look up to Him as a Fighter” – Ryan Garcia Disappointed With Oscar De La Hoya

The friction between Ryan Garcia and Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya is showing no signs of simmering down. The undefeated boxer has been at loggerheads with the Golden Boy supremo over a pay dispute.

The 22-year old Garcia publically went at the former world champ De La Hoya on Twitter last month. While the dispute is not new, it was reignited when Garcia and his promoter weren’t on the same page regarding the pay for his next fight.

De La Hoya, last month, took a subtle jibe at Garcia in a tweet for not accepting a fight. He also labeled young prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. as the future of boxing. Coming from a fighter whom he once viewed as his inspiration, Garcia was fairly disappointed when he heard the same.

“When I was little, I would look at him and thought he was the greatest guy in the world. And now I look at him like, ‘He doesn’t really care.'”

“On a personal level, (it hurts) because I looked up to him. I look like him — like, c’mon now. I even look like the guy. Everybody even compares me to him. Now it’s like, all right, that’s cool and everything,” Garcia said while talking to The Athletic.

Despite his young age, Garcia has a legion of followers. A majority of them are his female fans who are dazzled by his good looks, drawing somewhat of a parallel between him and Oscar. Garcia believes that since he is a renowned name, he should be getting the money he deserves.

However, he claims that Golden Boy only offered him the bare minimum that his new contract allows.

Ryan Garcia slams Oscar De La Hoya for becoming the very same thing that he set out to destroy

The parallel between De La Hoya and Garcia doesn’t end at their Mexican-American roots or their good looks. Just like Garcia, De La Hoya was also involved in a feud with his promoter, Bob Arum, on the grounds of pay. This was also the biggest reason why De La Hoya started Golden Boy, promising it to be a fighter-first company.

However, as per Garcia, it has not worked out the way De La Hoya promised.

“He actually doesn’t fight for the fighters now; he’s fighting for himself as the promoter. He’s the Bob Arum to his Oscar. He doesn’t want to admit that. He keeps on playing himself and playing me,” Garcia said.

De La Hoya also promised Garcia that he would be like a big brother to him. The former Olympic vowed to come and train with him. However, all this never happened.

Irrespective of the failed promises, Garcia never wanted to go on war with De La Hoya on Twitter.

“I never wanted to get into a Twitter war with him again, and it’s just sad that we got into another one. … I want him to act like my big brother, and he didn’t. It’s sad. I used to look up to him as a fighter.”

Ryan Garcia isn’t in the spot that he wants to be in. Therefore, he has a word of advice for young fighters who will step in the game in the future.

“Come back in three years, he’s going to wish he never did that to me. Because now, when I’m at the top, I’m going to tell them, ‘Don’t ever sign with this person.’”