Oscar De La Hoya has dismissed rumours of one showdown in particular for Ryan Garcia.
‘King Ry’ claimed the WBC welterweight title in February, dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory after scoring a first-round knockdown.
He has since been linked to a clash with Conor Benn, who comes off a 10-round points victory over Regis Prograis after they met at a catchweight of 150lbs in April.
Prior to that, ‘The Destroyer’ was involved in two middleweight contests against Chris Eubank Jr, losing their first encounter before exacting his revenge last November.
And despite having not made 147lbs since April 2022, the 29-year-old subsequently became the WBC mandatory challenger at welterweight, putting him in the mix to face Garcia in his first world title fight.
Since then, it has been widely reported that the pair will square off later this year, only for Vergil Ortiz Jr to suddenly emerge as a rumoured Garcia opponent earlier this week.
The super-welterweight contender has not fought since last November, back when he extended his unbeaten record with a second-round finish over Erickson Lubin.
More importantly, though, Ortiz has been involved in ongoing legal dispute with De La Hoya and Golden Boy, meaning his immediate future remains largely unclear.
In an attempt to clarify the situation, Golden Boy promoter De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV that Garcia and Ortiz are unlikely to collide anytime soon.
“That’s just a misunderstanding. Vergil has his career; Ryan has his career. [They’re on] different paths.”
De La Hoya added that he expects Ortiz to return to action later this year, perhaps hoping to reach some form of settlement with the 28-year-old.
