Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis are set to stage one of the biggest games of the year on April 15 – but last-minute negotiations proved difficult.
With Las Vegas preparing to introduce two young, undefeated superstars in the sportFans were shocked at the partnership between two advertising agencies – Golden Boy and PBC – and two broadcasters – DAZN and Showtime – to make that happen.
However, Oscar De La Hoya has updated the bottom line in the form of a rematch clause. Garcia’s promoter and Golden Boy founder claimed that the Davis faction’s demands for a second war were unfair.
I said GAME that ‘The Tank’ would have the right to trigger an immediate rematch if Garcia won, but disagreement stemmed from the terms of that match.
Interestingly, he revealed that his boxer will not have a similar clause in his contract and that Davis will be free to advance if he beats Garcia.
“We’re really at the 1-yard line; What keeps things up is the rematch clause. It’s only fair if Ryan wins, then our side controls everything as faction A. This is just the way it has always been. … Normally, whoever wins is side A. That’s the key point. We are not reinventing the wheel here.”
“Al Haymon is directing everything. … They asked for this, asked for that. Who plays first, penalty if Ryan is overweight. We made concessions, we negotiated and everything went very smoothly. If Ryan loses, there will be no rematch.
“It was an interesting negotiation, it really has. I really hope their team doesn’t track the ball and we don’t have a Super Bowl. … We at Golden Boy are just protecting our TV partners. To be fair, everything changes if Ryan wins.”
If they’ve made the claim before, Garcia’s position if Davis triggers a rematch is not something De La Hoya is willing to give up. However, he is confident that the fight will go as planned.
“We’re trying because we know it’s fair and we feel 1,000% of this fight is going to be done and is the biggest fight of the last few years.”
Fans will hope that these issues are eventually resolved, while frustrated with another rematch clause in a non-title match – but that is what boxing is today.
