De La Hoya on Haney-Garcia talks: 'The ball is rolling'

The promoters are talking and the fighters want it; WBC junior welterweight title fight would be a big one

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The social media back and forth between newly crowned WBC junior welterweight titleholder Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, one of boxing’s biggest stars, isn’t just for show.

Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia’s promoter, told Fight Freaks Unite on Thursday that he and Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, who works with Haney, have held preliminary talks about making the world title bout fight for March or April.

“I seriously believe Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia want to fight each other and I’ve reached out to Eddie Hearn. The ball is rolling and I’m sure this deal will not be difficult to make.

“We both work with DAZN. Ryan Garcia (in April had) one of the biggest successes on pay-per-view (in his mega fight with Gervonta Davis). We obviously want to be fair and respect the fact that Devin Haney is a champion and a great champion and he deserves his fair share. This is real. It’s a huge fight.”

De La Hoya said he called Hearn and they spoke about the pay-per-view fight and plan to speak more after Saturday’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, where Hearn has been busy with various fighters on the card, including heavyweight star Anthony Joshua in the main event.

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De La Hoya said they would have a better idea of the timing of the bout after Saturday’s card. As long as Joshua and fellow former heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder, who boxes in the co-feature, don’t lose and emerge injury free, they are due to fight each other on March 9. That would push Haney-Garcia, if it is made, into April.

One of the intriguing aspects of a Haney-Garcia fight is that they are very familiar with each other from deep amateur rivalry.

“They’re 3-3. They fought each other six times and they’re 3-3, so let’s settle the score in the pros,” De La Hoya said. “When you have history in the amateurs and you’re facing the same guy in the pros it calls for a great fight. They guys know each other’s style; want revenge. They’re 3-3. It will be a great promotion and a great fight.”

As pros, they have talked about fighting each other for the past few years. After Garcia knocked out Francisco Fonseca in the first round in February 2020, Haney and Garcia had an animated face off in the ring and spoke about fighting.

At that time, Haney said of Garcia, “We boxed a lot in the amateurs, so we have a lot of history. He’s always been my rival; it’s always been him and me going at it. I think I was nine in our first fight and he was my second to last amateur fight.”

On Tuesday, Garcia posted to social media his continued interest in the fight.

“I’ve advised my team to contact team Haney to discuss and make the fight happen between Devin and I,” Garcia wrote. “The ball is in your court Devin. I’ve made my move and I’m showing you and the boxing community that I’m committed to this fight.”

Haney responded to the post by writing, “These are facts.”

Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), 25, of Las Vegas, the former undisputed lightweight champion, moved up to junior welterweight and knocked Regis Prograis down and won via shutout decision to win the WBC belt in a flawless performance that headlined a DAZN PPV card on Dec. 9 at Chase Center in San Francisco, where Haney was born.

It was Haney’s second pay-per-view headliner in a row following his close win over Vasiliy Lomachenko to retain the undisputed lightweight crown in May. That $59.99 ESPN+ PPV fight generated about 150,000-plus buys, multiple industry sources told Fight Freaks Unite at the time.

Haney-Prograis fight did well at the gate but not nearly as well as Haney-Lomachenko on pay-per-view. It drew a gate of $1,724,020 from 13,729 tickets sold, according to the California State Athletic Commission. According to sources, the pay-per-view did approximately 45,000 buys on DAZN, priced at $59.99 for subscribers, and another 10,000 or so buys on non-DAZN platforms, where it was priced at $74.99.

Garcia headlined his first pay-per-view event in April on Showtime PPV when he squared off with fellow star and established PPV fighter Davis in the biggest commercial boxing event of the year in North America. Davis knocked out Garcia in the seventh round in a fight that generated about 1.2 million pay-per-view buys in the United States, more than $100 million in domestic PPV revenue, and a live gate of $22.8 million, which was the fifth-biggest in Nevada history.

Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), 25, of Los Angeles, bounced back with an eighth-round knockout of Oscar Duarte on Dec. 2 in a regular DAZN fight. Garcia said repeatedly he didn’t want to do lesser fights on pay-per-view — only big ones, which a showdown with Haney would qualify as.

“He’s back on track and you’re as good as your last fight,” De La Hoya said of Garcia.

Garcia initially hoped to challenge lineal/WBO champion Teofimo Lopez early next year and De La Hoya and Lopez promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank discussed it but Lopez balked.

“Nothing ever came of that,” De La Hoya said. “But I strongly believe Ryan right now is in the driver’s seat. Whatever he’s going to do, whatever weight division, that’s where the money is at.”

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Photos: Garica, Haney in ring: screen shot; Haney: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Garcia: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy

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