Ryan Garcia is certainly the preferred boxer Oscar De La Hoya’s firm promotes.
The 24-year-old Garcia has greater than 9 million Instagram followers and a advertising and marketing cope with Gatorade, even though he has held solely an interim light-weight title throughout his six-year skilled profession. If Garcia’s pay-per-view struggle in opposition to Gervonta Davis does the kind of enterprise De La Hoya anticipates April 22, “The Golden Boy” believes Garcia can turn out to be an even bigger star than even Canelo Alvarez and himself.
De La Hoya mentioned Garcia’s star potential with announcer Ray Flores throughout his fighter’s open exercise Tuesday on the Maloof mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
“He can go, and I’ve at all times stated it, even earlier than he was a celebrity,” De La Hoya stated, “I’ve at all times stated that Ryan Garcia can turn out to be even larger than Canelo, larger than Oscar De La Hoya, larger than whoever on the market.”
Alvarez, 32, stays boxing’s largest attract america, each on the gate and on pay-per-view. The Mexican icon parted methods with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions within the fall of 2020 and later partnered with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Alvarez’s final struggle – the long-awaited completion of his trilogy with rival Gennadiy Golovkin – eclipsed a million pay-per-view buys worldwide, in line with DAZN, which distributed the occasion September 17 from T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas.
The 50-year-old De La Hoya, in the meantime, was the most efficient pay-per-view fighter of his technology exterior of the heavyweight division. The six-division champion, who was inducted into the Worldwide Boxing Corridor of Fame in June 2014, headlined quite a few HBO Pay-Per-View occasions throughout his 16-year profession, together with a split-decision defeat to Floyd Mayweather that produced roughly 2.4 million buys, then a file, in Might 2007.
Mayweather later grew to become boxing’s most profitable pay-per-view attraction within the historical past of that platform. His factors victory over Manny Pacquiao generated a file 4.6 million buys in Might 2015.
Garcia hasn’t had almost as a lot success on the gate as Alvarez or De La Hoya. He’ll headline a pay-per-view present for the primary time versus Davis, who is among the sport’s prime ticket-sellers, however De La Hoya is assured this crossover occasion will assist make Garcia larger than ever.
“As a result of we’re dwelling in occasions the place [social] media is every thing,” De La Hoya defined. “And [social] media has introduced the world collectively. Identical to the world will likely be watching April twenty second, and it’s gonna shatter pay-per-view data or numbers. It’s gonna do enormous quantities of buys. However the world is coming collectively [in] such a neater, you realize, approach, bringing the world collectively.
“You understand, the phrase is spreading so quick on this struggle. It’s simply catching fireplace and, you realize, persons are ready for this struggle to occur. And are available April twenty second, it’s gonna be not solely fireworks, however it’s gonna be the largest occasion that any sport can have.”
Most handicappers have established Baltimore’s Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) as greater than a 2-1 favourite over Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California. Their 12-round predominant occasion, which will likely be contested at a contracted catch weight of 136 kilos, will prime a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast (8 p.m. ET; $84.99).
Keith Idec is a senior author/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He could be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
