‘Nobody’s Asking’ For The ‘Fake’ Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn Fight, Says Oscar De La Hoya

There have been serious talks about a potential Ryan Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) vs. Conor Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) showdown, with multiple outlets reporting it’s targeted for September 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, according to Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, the fight might just not have a lot of takers.

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During his “Clap Back Thursdays” segment, the Golden Boy boss revealed that he had yet to be approached about making the fight happen.

“Lots of fake news going around. So people are posting about the Ryan Garcia fight and the Conor Benn fight in Las Vegas, September 12, but I have yet to be approached about making this fight. We signed a two fight deal for Ryan with the Saudis last year. The first fight was with Barrios and apparently the Saudis have chosen Conor Benn to be Ryan’s next opponent,” De La Hoya said.

The matchup gained traction after Garcia publicly confirmed that Benn was his likely next opponent, while reports indicated that Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season and Dana White’s new Zuffa Boxing promotion were heavily involved in making the fight happen. However, negotiations have been anything but straightforward. Golden Boy Promotions, which still promotes Garcia, and broadcaster DAZN objected to the fight being negotiated without their approval, issuing legal notices to Zuffa Boxing and insisting that Garcia remains under contractual obligations with them.

According to De La Hoya, the boxing public is far more interested in seeing Garcia rematch Devin Haney following the controversy surrounding their first encounter.

“Nobody’s asking for this fight. The fans definitely not wanting this fight, and if it were up to me I would’ve picked Devin Haney for the rematch. That’s a much bigger fight. But because Turki owns Zuffa and wants to help them out, he picked Conor Benn,” De La Hoya said. “That’s fine. I mean, look, you can’t just make fights without Golden Boy and DAZN.”

“There Are Laws”

De La Hoya further urged the promoters (even though it was evident that he had directed it towards Turki Alalshikh) to follow the rules and the right processes while trying to fix fights in the USA.

“You can’t just do whatever you want here in America. There are laws and legally binding contracts. Turki and Sela, you can’t just call up any fighter you want and make a fight. You can’t put fights on any network you want. That’s why you’re getting sued left and right. It’s why you wanted to call a ‘peace meeting’ with Frank and Eddie over a war you started,” he said. “And by the way, you left me, Al Haymon and Bob Arum out of your peace meeting. And guess what, we control the US market.”

Joshua Ben Joseph

Joshua Ben Joseph is a Boxing writer renowned for his unparalleled coverage of live events and insightful interviews with prominent athletes in the world of combat sports. With a career spanning over several years, he has authored more than 800 articles. As an experienced editorial cartoonist and investigative journalist, Joshua has a keen eye for detail and a passion for delivering quality content. Aside from his writing, Joshua is an avid powerlifter and solo traveler, embodying the same spirit of determination and exploration that he brings to his work. With a deep love for the sport of boxing that dates back to childhood, he is committed to delivering the highest quality content and helping to build a more transparent and credible industry.

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