Oscar De La Hoya doubts Ryan Garcia joins Dana White after current deal expires: Not a good
Oscar De La Hoya has picked a side in boxing's civil war between Eddie Hearn and Dana White.
"I am Team Eddie right now, because he's cooking Dana," De La Hoya told Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" on Monday.
Hearn and White's continued public exchanges over the UFC CEO's involvement in the Dec. 11 fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have provided plenty of entertainment for the boxing world.
De La Hoya said he hopes to launch his own confrontation with White and TKO's Zuffa Boxing in the near future, with what he describes as the "clap-back of the century," but for now he is happy to watch Hearn take the lead.
"It is the funniest thing I've ever seen," De La Hoya said. "These guys just don't stop. You know Eddie, Eddie's just funny. He's harmless. That's why Eddie and I get along so well now. We had our differences, and he knows exactly what he has to do for his fighters, and he's a promoter.
"I'm just sitting back right here collecting all my information, having a great time listening to these guys bickering back and forth."
De La Hoya's assessment of White was considerably less generous.
Throughout the year, White has repeated the line that boxing fans should judge Zuffa Boxing at the end of 2026 based on its complete "body of work." We are now in October, and it's safe to say that De La Hoya has already reached his conclusion.
"Let's just say if I was a teacher, [they'd] be getting an F," De La Hoya said in his assessment of Zuffa Boxing.
"What has he done? All they do is rent fighters. They don't know how to build champions. They don't know how to build fighters from scratch. It's crazy. It's ridiculous. This sport of boxing, you have to be invested emotionally, and you have to put in your time and get to know the fighters and make it personal.
"Dana doesn't know s*** about fighters. He doesn't want to get to know them. It's all about a number for him. You take a look at TKO and the UFC — it's all about numbers and their shareholders. Boxing is more personal. You have to know the fighters. You have to have some interest in their lives and make sure that they're OK and make sure that they're treated correctly.
"Not send an email firing a fighter. You don't do it like that. That's not the way to do things, not in boxing."
De La Hoya was referring to Zuffa informing former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk of his release via email in April.
Gvozdyk fought just once with the promotional company, dominating Radivoje Kalajdzic through six rounds and scoring two knockdowns in the process, but ultimately succumbed in a dramatic seventh-round stoppage loss.
Although Gvozdyk was understanding of Zuffa's decision, the cutthroat nature of his release didn't go down well with some boxing fans. Some questioned the move after White said upon his entry into the sport that he aimed to get boxers to stop protecting their zeros and take the best fights — yet, when a former champion lost in a bout he was dominating, he was not given a second chance.
Yet if De La Hoya didn't already dislike White and TKO, he was certainly given a reason to after his alleged exclusion from September's Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn fight.
Garcia is De La Hoya's biggest star of a client, but the show — a Ring event co-promoted by Zuffa Boxing and De La Hoya's Golden Boy — was firmly positioned as a TKO and Zuffa product, with De La Hoya missing from the entire promotion and fight night.
"I didn't have my ringside tickets," De La Hoya explained about his absence. " … They gave me tickets, but not where I was contractually obligated to sit down."
"The event turned out excellent for Ryan Garcia," De La Hoya continued. "He had the great knockout, I'm very happy for him, but the fact that they kept me out of it — oooh."
De La Hoya said he plans to discuss his exclusion from the event on a future edition of his social media series "clap-back Thursday." He did, however, claim White was not the man behind it.
"Dana has no say whatsoever," De La Hoya said. "He doesn't have any pull here. Let's just say that I cannot talk about it until the smoke clears. There's some legalities that we have to deal with and all that stuff. I have 'clap-back' for a reason, and that's to tell you the truth. And once my muzzle is off, I can't wait."
Although Garcia was disappointed that De La Hoya wasn't at his fight, De La Hoya said the pair have spoken since, and all is good between them.
Garcia has one fight remaining on his promotional deal with Golden Boy — although sources close to the situation told Uncrowned that Garcia has an additional fight with DAZN left on his contract.
De La Hoya has helped develop Garcia into one of boxing's biggest stars and hopes to continue working with him after their current contract expires. Garcia, however, has said in the past that he doesn't intend to re-sign.
Whether Garcia stays with Golden Boy or not, De La Hoya doubts the WBC welterweight champion will be aligning with White.
"I don't think he'll go with Zuffa," De La Hoya said. "I don't think that's a good fit for him."
The Golden Boy founder said he will meet with Garcia imminently to discuss Garcia's next fight — though De La Hoya already knows who he'd like to see Garcia fight next.
"The guy that I wanted in the first place, Devin Haney," De La Hoya revealed. "Devin Haney and Teofimo [Lopez] are the biggest fights out there for Ryan, and Ryan is at an elite level right now. He's the guy who should be fighting the top guys and the very best.
"What I love about Ryan is that he has something very competitive in him where he wants to fight the very best and he wants to show the world that he is the best. A Teofimo or a Devin Haney is the perfect choice for him."
De La Hoya has clear ideas about what should come next for Garcia. The less certain question is whether he will remain the man promoting Garcia beyond that.