Ryan Garcia Is Trying to Stay Focused Amid Golden Boy Feud

The star boxer called out his promoters, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, accusing them of backing his opponent, Oscar Duarte.

It was startling, even by boxing standards: Ryan Garcia, at a press conference to promote Saturday’s 140-pound showdown against Oscar Duarte, used his time at the podium Thursday to tee off on the promoters—his promoters—putting on the show.

First into Garcia’s crosshairs was Bernard Hopkins, Golden Boy’s cofounder, who last month said he would observe Garcia’s performance against Duarte and “then make my personal decision on whether he should fight again.”

“He don’t decide that,” Garcia said, defiantly. “My coach does, my team does, everybody that grinds with me day in and day out. That’s who decides.”

Moments later, Garcia turned his attention to Oscar De La Hoya. In defending Hopkins, De La Hoya took to social media, urging Garcia to “keep focused on your craft instead of listening to some of your ‘team’s’ interpretations of comments taken out of context.”

“Oscar saying that, you know, we misinterpret what they say,” Garcia said. “It’s plain English. I didn’t hear anybody speaking any language I don’t know. So, you know, it’s very clear to me that, you know, they’re backing [Duarte] to beat me, just like they thought [Romero] Duno was going to beat me. He was the next Filipino star. They say he’s the next Mexican star.”

In a since-deleted tweet after the press conference, De La Hoya wrote that he was “really concerned about Ryan Garcia’s state of mind. Considering his history of mental instability [which he has documented himself] his current erratic behavior shows he’s clearly not focused on Saturday’s fight.” Garcia was outraged by the tweet, a source close to him told Sports Illustrated, but intends to get through the fight with Duarte before responding.

Garcia will look to bounce back after his loss to Davis in Saturday’s fight against Duarte / Golden Boy Promotions

It was a public tipping point in what has become a fractured relationship between Golden Boy and its biggest star. Last April, Garcia was upset that neither De La Hoya nor Hopkins was present at the press conference following his loss to Gervonta Davis. Garcia and De La Hoya had several tense exchanges on social media in the weeks afterward.

Last June, Garcia’s legal team issued a demand letter that alleged violations of the promotional agreement. A week later, Golden Boy filed a lawsuit seeking to enforce its long-term contract with Garcia.

The public squabble overshadows an important fight for Garcia (23–1). Following the loss to Davis, Garcia made significant changes. He fired his trainer, Joe Goossen, and joined forces with Derrick James, moving to Dallas to work out of James’s gym. The move, Garcia tells SI, was as significant as the trainer change, with his lifestyle in Los Angeles becoming “toxic.”

“It was toxic because L.A. people want to be around famous people,” says Garcia. “There’s a lot of distractions. Even the gym I was at, it was kind of a celebrity gym in a way. Things weren’t locked in like a training camp. My dedication just wasn’t there. It wasn’t there.”

Shake-ups after losses are common. There had been some well-publicized turbulence in his career in recent years. The split with Eddy Reynoso. The public feud with Canelo Álvarez. The mental health break, coupled with a hand injury, sidelined him for more than a year. But even when things appeared to be on track, like during back-to-back wins in 2022, Garcia says he felt unsettled. When he lost to Davis he didn’t feel disappointed. He felt nothing.

“I stopped caring about just winning in general,” says Garcia. “My competitive edge was just not there. It was like, ‘O.K., I did the big fight.’ Great. I know what was missing. It was just me kind of fed up with all the s--- I had to go through and just me not giving a rat’s a-- about anything anymore.”

The connection with James, Sports Illustrated’s Trainer of the Year in 2020, has been productive. James, whose stable includes Errol Spence Jr., Anthony Joshua and Jermell Charlo, has helped to refocus Garcia. And after years of chasing different goals, Garcia says he has only one now.

“I want to become a champion,” says Garcia. “Sometimes you need to lose and sometimes you need to hit rock bottom to realize the changes you need to make, and I think that’s what’s going to make me great and show people who I am is just how I bounce back. It’s not easy to lose, but great champions come back.”