The Ryan Garcia Problem
By Eddie Sanchez
DAZN is going through it right now! We have highlighted their primary issues on a macro-level and provided a few unconventional methods to gain quick viewership ratings and fast cash, but on a micro-level, Ryan Garcia is seemingly one of their top draws, but is significantly underpaid and is vocal about his displeasure.
Ryan Garcia, the 21 year old boxer who is trained by Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Canelo, is a social media sensation and promising prospect in the sport of boxing. For context, Canelo who most view as the current face of boxing has 6.7 million followers with Garcia close behind at 6.4 million. This clearly represents that he is a draw and has the foundation of a large fanbase.
This is especially important because lightweight is one of the most stacked divisions in the sport. Interestingly enough, Vasily Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez, the rest of his elite lightweight contemporaries have a combined 4.8 million followers on instagram. Ryan Garcia is immensely huge, extremely early in his career.
Inside the ring, Garcia has so far proven his status as an elite prospect. He has a perfect record at 20-0 with 17 by way of knockout and has had some highlight reel finishes along the way. Although he hasn’t been tested with elite competition, he has put his head down and conducted his business with the opposition in front of him.
Given these variables, it’s confusing to see Ryan Garcia disrespected financially. Remember, he has had complaints with his pay and promotion for over a year now, far before COVID-19 came into play.
His disappointment was temporarily resolved last September, but since then he has not been awarded the formidable competition that he has desired.
Since this time, he has seen purses estimated between $50,000 and $200,000. This is considerably low for someone with his drawing power. His frustration has been amplified with the pandemic halting competition as well and he has become exasperated from the news of DAZN’s financial troubles at large.
“That’s bullsh-t,” Garcia said. “Why am I being held back financially? What is the problem here? Why is DAZN giving out big numbers to guys fighting nobodies? It’s f—ked up how I’m being treated. I’m not asking for $100 million. Just give me the check I deserve. How am I one of the biggest fighters in the world and I get bigger paychecks outside of boxing?”
These are troubling statements, especially when considering that boxing has long been a sport that is known to overpay its stars.
Eric Gomez from Golden Boy denied the claims that Ryan Garcia is being mistreated. “We are exclusive to DAZN and Ryan is exclusive to us,” Gomez said. “We’re living in a pandemic. There are some real hard times out there. It’s arguably the worst financial downfall since the Great Depression. Ryan’s next show is not going to have any fans. His gate is significant. But he wasn’t asked to take a pay cut. In the contract that we recently signed, we were going to pay him above his minimum for this next fight.”
It seems that there is a major disconnect in the fine print of his contract. Ryan does not simply want to be paid more than his contracted minimum. He wants to be compensated what he believes he is fully worth.
This is an issue that surely does not have a simple solution. In the immediate future, Garcia is still slated to make his return Fourth of July weekend. The disappointing news is that his opponent went from Jorge Linares to TBD to Abner Mares and back to TBD.
This is extremely frustrating for fans because the lightweight division is so stacked! There is an understanding that certain promotional companies have trouble working with others and the pandemic adds an additional wrinkle, but most would want to see this beef handled in the ring.
Unfortunately, this is a matchup we will have to wait some time to see.
With the Fourth of July in three weeks, it will be interesting to see who his opponent is and it will be equally as interesting to see the further fallout that comes from the light purse that he is expected to earn.
UPDATE 6/15/2020:
Oh boy. The light went from dim to off very quickly. Ryan Garcia is no longer expected to make Golden Boy’s return.
It is interesting to see Vergil Ortiz as the choice to be next-in-line. He is a deserving welterweight prospect, but this move from Golden Boy screams on to the next one, as in, on to the next top-prospect.
It will be interesting to see how the Ryan Garcia-Oscar De la Hoya feud progresses, but Jermell Charlo has some advice for the young star.
This is something I’d be 100% down for. Time will tell what happens next.
