Last year, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. came face-to-face, not as fighters but as facilitators and promoters. Their charges, Gervonta Davis (now Abdul Wahid) and Ryan Garcia, met on April 22. The latter lost, and subsequent months saw him reportedly drift towards the Mayweather school. Tomorrow, Garcia walks into another momentous war. Unlike last time, Mayweather Jr. may not be linked to the fight directly in any way.

However, his playbook perhaps still remains open, and ‘KingRy’, as the lead-up to the fight shows, seems to have picked well from it. It would be normal to think that De La Hoya would have flipped out at the thought of his charge learning the tricks of the trade from his rival. But lo and behold, instead, the Olympic gold medalist had rather words that conveyed a feeling of acceptance! Let’s check how it unfolded.

Oscar De La Hoya Attests to the Guru’s Everlasting Mantra

In ‘MMA Hour’s latest episode, Ariel Helwani delved into Ryan Garcia’s behavior, especially his online antics. He wanted to know from Oscar De La Hoya if the young boxer’s conduct ever bothered him. Later, he asked, “Do you do you ever do you have the relationship with him now where you can call him up and be like, hey, you want to talk anything…has that happened?”

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‘The Golden Boy’ revealed that both he and Garcia were in that space and could discuss things freely. He makes it a point to encourage ‘KingRy’ that he is in a very ‘special place and opportunity’. “He is, believe it or not he is the cash cow; he is the money maker. We’ll have a sellout crowd here, and at Barkley’s well the pay-per-views are going to go through the roof. It’s going to be crazy, and it’s all because of Ryan, you know,” said De La Hoya.

Now he is fighting a top-notch boxer who wants to rule the sport, eager to have a legacy that matches some of the past greats. But De La Hoya then slid the mirror to show the reality. He said, “But look at what Ryan has done to him like psychologically. Devin Haney pushing Ryan at at the Empire State Building when they met. I’ve never seen that from Devin. I think he’s a little rattled, you know, so Ryan’s doing something that only he knows he’s doing, you know, and he’s getting under his skin.”

In the last part of De La Hoya’s statement, though, Ariel Helwani had doubts, it seems. He checked whether Garcia was genuinely under Haney’s skin. Oscar De La Hoya replied, “I believe so yeah, I believe so just like Mayweather would get under everybody’s skin, I think I think I think uh, Ryan took a page out of Mayweather’s book.”

Now, that would certainly raise many eyebrows. After all, just the other day, while speaking with eminent sportscaster Dan Patrick, De La Hoya reminisced about an old fight whose outcome he still seemingly disagrees with.

Questionable Aftermath But Still Mayweather Jr. Stands Among the Best

On Audiorama’s podcast ‘Untamed with Dan Patrick’, the duo picked up the 2007 Mayweather Jr. fight for discussion. Oscar De La Hoya shared what he felt after the match. The ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd won the bout by a split decision. However, ‘The Golden Boy’ believes it was a fight whose fate hung in the balance. Hence, it’s hard to say who actually won. But still, he felt that he had done enough to deserve a victory. Next month, on May 5, the fight will be seventeen years old. Perhaps the rivalry between the two icons of modern boxing may not have dissipated from the minds.

But it should be mentioned that, towards the end, once again, ‘The Golden Boy’ acknowledged Mayweather Jr.’s skill. When Patrick asked what makes a perfect boxer, De La Hoya replied, “I think um Floyd Mayweather’s skills, Mike Tyson’s power um Muhammad Ali’s intelligence, and Sugar Leonard’s footwork.”

What’s your take on De La Hoya’s conclusion? Do you agree with him? Please share your view with us in the comments below.