Ryan Garcia had been flanked by Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya from Golden Boy Promotions all through the lead-up to his fight with Gervonta Davis, but they were nowhere to be seen at the press conference after his loss.
‘Tank’ knocked Garcia down in the second round and then stopped him in the seventh with a crushing body shot. In the aftermath, he called himself ‘the face of boxing.’
As for Garcia, he was humble in defeat. When he was speaking to the media, though, many fans noticed two glaring absences – that of former world champions turned boxing businessmen, Hopkins and De La Hoya.
Speaking to Fight Hype, ‘B-Hop’ explained that it wasn’t a big deal they were no shows, and he’d rather the focus be on Garcia.
“First of all, we had Eric Gomez, who is the president of Golden Boy there. Second, it wasn’t gonna be about Oscar, it wasn’t gonna be about Bernard Hopkins.
The focus is about Ryan being in with Tank. The fans that’s there. The questions that the reporters are waiting to shoot.”
Hopkins said that at times it was better not to say anything, and that any involvement from himself, De La Hoya, or Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe to sell the fight was over after the first bell.
Ellerbe had a dig at the boxing legend post-fight, though, joining in with the many fans questioning his absence at the presser.
“There is nothing worse then when a fighters team doesn’t believe in them”
Quote from the presser https://t.co/PiPYjk0qpq
— Leonard Ellerbe (@LEllerbe) April 23, 2023
Garcia confirmed that he’d be moving up to 140lb to challenge the top super lightweight contenders. He was gracious in defeat, saying that he would offer no excuses and sticking by that. However, the 136lb catchweight was much-discussed for a reason, and he did admit that it couldn’t have helped.
As for ‘Tank’, fans would like to see him now making these sort of fights a trend rather than a one-off.
With the most impressive win of his career under his belt, he should now be calling out his fellow top dogs in the 135lb ranks – champion Devin Haney, recently moved-up Shakur Stevenson and former champ Vasiliy Lomachenko.