Golden Boy sues Ryan Garcia and his adviser to have contract upheld
Bad blood continues between company and star fighter and his team
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Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions on Friday sued junior welterweight Ryan Garcia, its star fighter, and his adviser/attorney Guadalupe Valencia in U.S. District Court of Nevada seeking to have its “valid and enforceable promotional agreement” upheld.
Golden Boy is also seeking that the court declare that it has the “sole and exclusive right to promote Garcia’s professional boxing matches and to negotiate for and broadcast the same; and Garcia and Valencia are not permitted to conduct any negotiations or engage in any contracts with any third parties regarding Garcia’s fights.”
Golden Boy’s lawsuit was filed a week after it was sent a legal letter by Garcia’s team demanding mediation for multiple alleged breaches of the promotional contract that was signed on Sept. 18, 2019.
“Golden Boy has been proud to have worked with Ryan Garcia for the last several years and to help catapult him to the kind of stardom that led to the biggest boxing pay-per-view event in years just two months ago,” Golden Boy said in a statement given to Fight Freaks Unite. “With this filing, we are seeking to ensure that Ryan and his team will honor the remainder of his contract, a contract that Ryan himself called ‘one of the most lucrative boxing deals for a prospect in the history of the sport.’
“Since then, Ryan has moved on to becoming a legitimate contender, and we will continue to present Ryan with the best possible opponents that can eventually lead the way to a world championship and a historic legacy.”
According to the 10-page lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by Fight Freaks Unite, Golden Boy claims that Garcia’s advisers have “apparently convinced” him that he no longer needs Golden Boy.
“One of those advisors, Valencia, has, for the last year or more, directly interfered with Golden Boy’s ability to communicate with Garcia and to negotiate the best deals and fights for Garcia,” the suit said. “In fact, Valencia, in direct violation of Golden Boy’s Agreement with Garcia, has engaged in negotiations with other promoters and boxers for Garcia’s fights. Valencia has done so despite explicitly knowing of the Agreement and its terms and has orchestrated an effort to drive a wedge between Garcia and Golden Boy.
“Golden Boy has attempted to resolve this matter informally but has been rebuffed. Instead, Garcia has threatened baseless claims against Golden Boy and has recently taken the absurd position that the Agreement is void and unenforceable. Accordingly, Golden Boy was forced to file this action to protect and enforce its interests under the Agreement so that it can continue to make the best fights for Garcia and his fans and to deter Valencia and others from interfering with Golden Boy’s rights.”
Golden Boy further alleged that it was able to finalize Garcia’s April 22 mega Showtime PPV fight against Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs), who knocked out Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) with a body shot in the seventh round at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, despite “blatant and willful interference by Valencia. … Notwithstanding Golden Boy’s success in promoting Garcia’s career, Valencia has been working for over a year to undermine Golden Boy’s contractual rights and its relationship with Garcia. Specifically, Valencia has repeatedly engaged in activities that are in the sole and exclusive domain of Golden Boy pursuant to the Agreement. Indeed, Golden Boy is informed and believes that, on multiple occasions beginning no later than May 2022, Valencia has directly approached multiple opponents for Garcia to fight and negotiated various terms of Garcia’s fights with those fighters and their promoters.
“For instance, despite Golden Boy’s express instructions to the contrary, Valencia inserted himself into the negotiations for the Gervonta Davis fight, purporting to agree to terms that were unfavorable to Garcia (and Golden Boy) without ever consulting Golden Boy. Valencia has also prevented Golden Boy from negotiating with potential opponents for Garcia by making representations to other fighters and promoters regarding Garcia’s plans and intentions.”
‘Golden Boy was forced to file this action to protect and enforce its interests,’ — from the lawsuit
Additionally, the lawsuit said that since Davis-Garcia, “Valencia has continued having discussions with other distributors, promoters, and fighters regarding Garcia’s next fight. Golden Boy has on multiple occasions attempted to resolve this matter outside the courts, including by instructing Valencia to cease and desist these wrongful actions but, to date, those olive branches have been disregarded.
“In response to Golden Boy’s most recent cease and desist demand, Garcia has now taken the position that the Agreement is invalid and unenforceable, and that Golden Boy has somehow breached the Agreement. Golden Boy was thus forced to commence this lawsuit to enforce and protect its rights under the Agreement.”
The suit does not state when Garcia’s contract is set to expire or how many more bouts it has with him under the agreement.
There has been tremendous tension between Garcia and Golden Boy since the fight with Davis. Garcia was extremely upset that De La Hoya and fellow International Boxing Hall of Famer and Golden Boy partner Bernard Hopkins skipped the post-fight news conference.
‘Golden Boy is obligated to promote and enhance Ryan Garcia, not malign him on Twitter and file a public, baseless lawsuit against him,’ — Garcia attorney James ‘Bo’ Pearl
More recently, Garcia and De La Hoya got into an argument on Twitter during which Garcia took exception to De La Hoya posting, “What the fuck Ryan. It’s been almost two months and you’re still crying about the post-presser? The blame for your loss is on you and your ‘adviser’ Lupe. He is the only one who pushed you to accept that insane (136-pound catch weight and 10-pound) rehydration clause and that is the reason you lost. Man up. Own that.
“Also, you keep saying ‘Tank’s team offered more support for you’ blah blah blah. Bro, they set you up to lose with that rehydration clause.”
Garcia responded, “Okay, buddy. You got it all figured out. I’m tired of you disrespecting my whole career, and you think none of it matters. Loyalty and common sense are lost in your head. Stop treating people that way and think they will just accept it.”
James “Bo” Pearl, Garcia’s litigation attorney, addressed De La Hoya’s social media blast toward Garcia and the lawsuit filed against his client.
“Golden Boy is obligated to promote and enhance Ryan Garcia, not malign him on Twitter and file a public, baseless lawsuit against him,” Pearl said in a statement given to Fight Freaks Unite. “Ironically, the lawsuit itself constitutes a breach of the very agreement Golden Boy is seeking to enforce. It is obvious retaliation to a written request by Ryan last week to mediate multiple breaches of contract by Golden Boy.
“Rather than address these serious issues in mediation (as is required under the contract), Golden Boy rushed to court to sue its fighter. To be sure, we will respond to this gamesmanship and fully enforce all of Ryan’s contractual rights against Golden Boy as well as his rights under state and federal law.”
Golden Boy is also seeking punitive damages against Valencia “to punish and deter him from engaging in similar conduct in the future” and for attorney’s fees.
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There is something wrong with Oscar and his fighters canleo left him now Garcia wants to walk maybe too much coke
Ryan is doing what so many other boxers do and that is to blame others for their own decisions. After losing a fight that he setup to his own disadvantage with both a catch weight and rehydration clause that was 100% to Gervonta's benefit, he fires Goosen and focuses on his promoter not being at the press conference. Comments of Gervonta's team being there and supportive to him, well, why not? Ryan gave them everything they wanted in Gervonta's favor. They should be warm and thankful.
In all fairness Garcia is not a complete fighter. He is blessed with quickness and power. As he attempts to take on the elite fighters in his weight category those shortcomings will be exposed as they were in the Davis fight.
Do what another elite fighter did, Hall of Famer Roberto Duran. Starting as a Lightweight, he rose all the way to Super Middleweight champion. Not once did he require a catch weight, rehydration clauses or gear restrictions. (Weight of gloves, etc.) Yet, he won a world championship at every weight category. He fought straight up fights.