Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis are set to stage one of the biggest fights of the year on April 15 – but last minute negotiations are proving tough.
With Las Vegas primed to showcase two, young, undefeated superstars in the sport, fans have been shocked at the partnership between two promotional companies – Golden Boy and PBC – and two broadcasters – DAZN and Showtime – to make it happen.
Oscar De La Hoya, though, has updated on a sticking point in the form of a rematch clause. Garcia’s promoter and founder of Golden Boy claims that Davis’ sides demands for a second fight are unfair.
He told ESPN that ‘Tank’ would have the right to activate an immediate rematch if Garcia wins, but the disagreement stems from what the terms of that fight would look like.
Interestingly, he revealed that his fighter won’t have the same clause in the contract and Davis will be free to move on if he beats Garcia.
“We’re literally down at the 1-yard line; what’s holding everything up is the rematch clause. It’s only fair if Ryan wins, then our side controls everything as the A-side. This is just the way it always has been. … It’s common sense that whoever wins is the A-side. That’s the bottom line. We’re not reinventing the wheel here.”
“Al Haymon is dictating everything. … They’ve asked for this, asked for that. Who comes out first, the penalties if Ryan comes overweight. We’ve given in, we’ve negotiated, and everything has been very pleasant. If Ryan loses, sure, there’s no rematch.
“It’s been a pleasant negotiation, it really has. I really hope their side doesn’t fumble the ball and we have no Super Bowl. … We at Golden Boy are just protecting our TV partners. It’s only fair that everything gets switched around if Ryan wins.”
If they have given into demands before, Garcia’s standing should Davis trigger a rematch is not something De La Hoya is willing to budge on. Still, he’s confident the fight goes ahead as planned.
“We’re holding strong because we know it’s fair and we feel 1,000% this fight is going to be made and be the biggest fight of the past few years.”
Fans will hope that these final issues are ironed out, whilst being frustrated at yet another rematch clause in a non-title fight – but such is the sport of boxing today.