"They have their own agenda" - Oscar De La Hoya claims PBC withheld Ryan Garcia vs. Isaac Cruz fight
Ryan Garcia is set to face Emmanuel Tagoe next month in Texas. However, the Ghanaian boxer wasn't supposed to be the original opponent for Garcia.
Following Isaac Cruz's bout against Gervonta Davis, he was a hot commodity. The Mexican boxer was seen in a completely different light due to his performance against the WBA (Regular) Lightweight Champion.
Cruz might have lost to Davis. However, the Mexican put on quite a show, and the fight was close.
As such, he was offered many big fights. One of those bout offers came from Oscar De La Hoya, who attempted to arrange a fight between Cruz and Garcia.
According to the former world champion, he offered a million dollars to Cruz to make the fight happen. However, in an interview with Fight Hub TV, he noted that Cruz's management, PBC, didn't allow the bout to go ahead. He said:
“We made a million dollar offer to Cruz, and I’m not saying that Cruz didn’t take it, they never presented that offer to him. They have their own agenda. You know how PBC is, they fight their own fighters and they never like to go across the street and challenge anybody else. That’s exactly what happened and it’s pretty sad because like that we can’t make fights."
Watch Oscar De La Hoya's interview with Fight Hub TV below:
Ryan Garcia has been out of action for over a year
Ryan Garcia's return to the ring is set for next month. His return bout against Emmanuel Tagoe will be his first outing in the ring since January 2021.
His last bout took place against Luke Campbell for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight strap. The British boxer was seen as the biggest test of 'KingRy's' career. Little did fans know how much Garcia would get pushed that night in Dallas.
Campbell came out firing early and even knocked down the young prospect in round two. Garcia was forced to crawl off the canvas and pull himself back into the fight.
By round seven, the bout was close. However, Garcia decided it was time to close the show. 'KingRy' landed a devastating hook to the body that sat the Brit down. The blow ended the bout in one of the highlight reel moments of the year.
Since that win, Ryan Garcia has been criticized for his time away from the ring. However, if he can put on a performance against Tagoe as he did against Campbell, it will be well worth the wait.