Ryan Garcia & Gervonta Davis fight might not happen over dispute in contract

Ryan Garcia & Gervonta Davis fight might not happen over dispute in contract.

The highly anticipated fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia reportedly may not happen.

According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the bout is in “serious jeopardy” because of issues with the contract related to a rematch clause.

Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes for Garcia, reportedly thought it had an agreement in place for a potential rematch, as Golden Boy and DAZN would have been in control of a rematch had Garcia won.

The contract reportedly came back with Premier Boxing Champions in control of the rematch, however, and Golden Boy views it as a “non-negotiable issue” and “will not budge” because of its commitments to DAZN as the pay-per-view carrier, per Mannix.

The undefeated Davis had one obstacle to get past first in the form of Héctor García, and he did precisely that on Jan. 7 when he beat García by ninth-round technical knockout to retain the WBA (Regular) lightweight title and improve to 28-0.

Ryan Garcia also boasts a perfect professional record of 23-0, with his most recent win coming over Javier Fortuna by sixth-round knockout in July.

Before that, Garcia defeated Emmanuel Tagoe in April 2022 by unanimous decision in what was his first fight in over 15 months.

Garcia had taken some time off to focus on his mental health, but he has been better than ever in two fights since returning and was shaping up to be the toughest opponent of Davis’ career thus far.

The disagreement between the two parties is due to a rematch clause.

Gervonta Davis will be able to activate the clause if he loses and face Ryan Garcia once again. The dispute is over who will stage the second fight in the event of a Garcia win.

Davis is represented by Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions and broadcasting partner Showtime, while Ryan Garcia is represented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN.

DAZN and Golden Boy have even allowed the first fight to be a PBC show and be broadcast on Showtime, while DAZN will distribute the pay-per-view.

Oscar De La Hoya spoke with ESPN in an interview, where he said:

“We’re literally down at the one-yard line. What’s holding everything up is the rematch clause. It’s only fair if Ryan wins, then our side controls everything as the A-side. This is just the way it always has been… It’s common sense that whoever wins is the A-side. That’s the bottom line. We’re not reinventing the wheel here.”

De La Hoya insists he’s given into every demand to make the fight happen and that negotiations have been “pleasant”:

“Al Haymon is dictating everything… They’ve asked for this, asked for that – who comes out first, the penalties if Ryan comes overweight. We’ve given in, we’ve negotiated, and everything has been very pleasant. If Ryan loses, sure, there’s no rematch. It’s been a pleasant negotiation, it really has. I really hope their side doesn’t fumble the ball and we have no Super Bowl.”

On Monday, Golden Boy Promotions founder and legendary boxer Oscar De La Hoya told Coppinger that negotiations were “down at the 1-yard line.”

De La Hoya acknowledged that the rematch clause was an issue, expressing his belief that the winning side should be in control of a rematch.

Davis is promoted by PBC and fights on Showtime, both of which would be in control of the first bout, but they also want to promote and air a rematch regardless of who wins.