“I love to stop by and encourage my warriors before they go to battle,” De La Hoya wrote on Instagram. “I was asked to ‘stay out’ of the other locker room but loved seeing Oscar Duarte so calm and focused.”
Ryan Garcia blasted his way back into the win column with an eighth-round knockout victory over Oscar Duarte in their DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) headliner last weekend in San Antonio, Texas (highlights here), despite some pre-fight drama that called into question the mental stability of the 25 year-old fighting phenom.
“A lot of people that supposedly was close to me was hoping I’d lose,” Garcia wrote on social media. “Tried their best to use every tactic to throw me off but my mental was protected and I had that full armor of God on.”
“Despite the wishes of my enemies, God held me through,” Garcia later added.
Garcia has been at odds with Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya ever since “The Flash” was stopped by Gervonta Davis back in April. That led to Garcia banning De La Hoya from his locker room ahead of last weekend’s Duarte fight in “The Lone Star State.”
De La Hoya brushed it off.
“I’m proud of him, I’m proud of every fighter,” De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV after the Duarte win. “Being inside the ring, fighting, you feel so much emotion. Outside the ring, a big fight. Especially after you lose. You come back and you think everybody’s your enemy. But then after you win, everything’s great. Bro, I’ve been there, C’mon.”
“The relationship [between Garcia and Golden Boy] is … a relationship,” De La Hoya continued. “When you have family, and it’s like you have your ups and downs and your beef and this-and-that, but it’s still family. It’s all good. Don’t make it a big deal.”
Garcia is expected to make his “sweet science” return in early 2024.