Following a very public spat, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions has filed a lawsuit against Ryan Garcia to enforce its contract in response to his legal team claiming violations of their agreement.
Garcia came up short in the biggest fight of his career so far, being knocked down twice on the way to defeat against Gervonta Davis. The event was, by all accounts, a mega success.
In the aftermath, Garcia was disappointed not to be flanked by his outspoken promoter, De La Hoya, at the post-fight press conference. The former champion turned businessman later said that security had advised him to leave the building due to death threats.
Frustrations between the pair boiled over recently on social media, with Garcia publicly shunning De La Hoya’s talk that he could face Manny Pacquiao. He also said he felt unsupported and betrayed by his team.
De La Hoya responded by telling his fighter to ‘man up’, and that the loss to Davis was on him and his advisor, Guadalupe Valencia, who is also included in the lawsuit.
Whilst De La Hoya has publicly still been talking up potential opponents for Garcia at super-lightweight, the promotional company have taken legal action in response to a letter from Garcia’s team that, as per ESPN, alleges breaches of their agreement.
Amongst other things, Garcia’s side claim Golden Boy have breached a non-disparagement clause following the tweets from De La Hoya.
The report also reveals an allegation that the deal made with broadcaster, DAZN, by Golden Boy wasn’t fully communicated to Garcia.
It’s claimed that the fighter ended up paying around $120,000 of his own money earned to the streaming platform, who reportedly received $1.25 million in total to allow Showtime to be the main producer/broadcaster of the event. DAZN also offered the pay-per-view.
In response, the promotional company’s lawsuit seeks to enforce the remainder of Garcia’s contract, as mentioned in a letter provided to ESPN.
“With this filing, we are seeking to ensure that Ryan and his team will honour the remainder of his contract, a contract that Ryan himself called ‘one of the most lucrative boxing deals for a prospect in the history of the sport.”
Neither party has commented publicly on the matter at the time of writing, but a bitter legal battle may ensue.