LAS VEGAS – The pre-fight press conference for Saturday’s boxing superfight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia was all, but tame.
Fighters, coaches, and promoters had a lot to say on the microphone, as they spoke to the media present in Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon. And that included Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, who didn’t hold back any punches. De La Hoya wasted no time to go after Davis’ team for the clauses and stipulations they set on Garcia in order for the fight to happen.
“As someone who spent most of his early life in the ring, I know firsthand what it takes to compete at the highest level, and this is the highest level,” De La Hoya said in his opening statement. “I look at Ryan and I know he’s ready. I look at Ryan’s team, and they know he’s ready.
“I look at Tank and he looks ready. But when I look at Tank’s team’s actions throughout the whole promotion, I am left to wonder, ‘Do they really think this guy is ready?’ Catchweights and re-hydration clauses, late afternoon weigh-ins. All of these small, petty requirements points to a team that looks to protect their fighter. And why do they protect their fighter unless they don’t think maybe he’s not ready for this moment. I really believe that Tank’s team is worried he’s going to lose. And when you’re a fighter, nothing feels worse than your team not believing in you.
“Then you look at Ryan so hungry, so willing, so ready for this stage that he simply said yes to every request no matter what it was. That is a confident fighter. That is a fighter whose team has his back. That’s why you’re going to see Ryan come out as the new face of boxing on Saturday night.”
Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) vs. Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) is to be contested at 136 pounds at T-Mobile Arena. Garcia had competed at 140 pounds in his most recent outing back in February and at 138 pounds in the fight before back in July.
Garcia revealed back in March that he can’t weigh more than 146 pounds, 10 more than their contracted weight, when he enters the ring for the 12-round bout.
Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, says these clauses are part of the game and called De La Hoya’s claims ridiculous.
“First off, we believe in ‘Tank’ 1,000 percent,” Ellerbe said in response to De La Hoya. “So when it comes to you, you have no room to talk about anything. We been the A-side in this situation, and that’s how the A-side carries itself.”
After the press conference concluded, Ellerbe continued to explain the decisions that were made while speaking with SHOWTIME Sports.
“It’s our job to put our young guy in the best situation to be successful,” Ellerbe said. “Tank has earned the right o be the A-side. That’s why I was shocked to see him (De La Hoya) say that. This dude is the same dude that made Floyd go up in weight, gave him a big ass clause and did everything to put us at a disadvantage set everything to put us at a disadvantage because he was the guy. We actually tricked his ass to get in the ring. Let’s start with that.”
