De La Hoya reignites their historic boxing feud
Oscar De La Hoya has dramatically claimed the legendary Floyd Mayweather attempted to steal Ryan Garcia away from him, before boldly exclaiming the American is loyal to him and Golden Boy Promotions.
The links to the 50-0-0 multi-weight champion came after the 25-year-old Garcia was spotted going for early runs with him because be began to publicly call out De La Hoya and his promotion firm in the build up to his bout with Oscar Duarte.
“Maybe he’s slipping in some business. ‘Hey, come sign with me,’ or this and that,” De La Hoya said of Mayweather’s suspected antics to Club Shay Shay. “Ryan’s a loyal guy.
“He’ll tell me if he wants to leave me or he wants to stay with me, plus we have a contract.”
Garcia is currently serving a 12-month ban from all forms of professional boxing after testing positive for ostarine on multiple occasions ahead of his bout with Devin Haney, which he also failed to meet the maximum weight for.
He has also been expelled from the WBC after making racist comments on a livestream against the Islamic community and black people, in what has been a turbulent year since he suffered his first career loss at the hands of Gervonta Davis in 2023.
Why do De La Hoya and Mayweather dislike each other?
The De La Hoya vs. Mayweather rivalry is one of the most notable in modern boxing history, highlighted by their 2007 fight between the 10-time world champion in six different weight classes and undefeated Mayweather that captivated the sports world.
Dubbed The World Awaits, the fight was held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was one of the most highly anticipated bouts in history as the pair clashed in front of thousands in the venue and millions on PPV.
Two judges scored the fight for Mayweather, while one scored it for De La Hoya and symbolized the passing of the torch from one era of boxing to another as De La Hoya retired around one year later in 2008.
