Promoter Oscar De La Hoya believes the World Boxing Council (WBC) acted hastily by expelling Ryan Garcia in reaction to his racist tirade on social media on Thursday.
De La Hoya says nobody knows whether Ryan has a psychological problem or if he was on drugs or alcohol when he made the racist comments.
Garcia’s Response and the Impact on WBC
The WBC reacted quickly to Ryan’s comments by expelling him without checking things out, which did him a disservice. Ryan fired back today on X, saying, “It’s okay. Just don’t try to work with me ever again, even after I get clean and sober.”
Ryan has decided that he was nothing to do with the WBC once he returns to the ring, which is a huge loss for the sanctioning body because he’s one of the biggest stars in North America, maybe even more popular than Gervonta Davis.
Ryan’s PPV numbers bear that out. If the WBC wants to patch this rift up with Ryan, they must work doubly hard.
De La Hoya Questions Garcia’s State of Mind
“It’s wrong what he said, but you got to gather all the information before you make the accusations the way the WBC did,” said Oscar De La Hoya to the media, talking about the WBC expelling Ryan Garcia for future activities with their organization following his racist tirade this week.
The WBC should have waited to gather all the facts before expelling Ryan, because there was no way of identifying what caused this behavior. Given that he’d already been exhibiting signs of a person who needed mental health, the WBC should have noted that before they chose to expel him abruptly.
“I’m not a doctor. I don’t know. Maybe Ryan has a bad psychological problem when he does. I heard he dies shrooms, drugs, and or when he’s drinking,” De La Hoya continued. “Maybe he has people inside his circle telling him it’s okay to do this like a sabotage type of thing.
“In boxing, you don’t know what the hell is going on around your circle because people can plant things. The WBC made their statement, and it is what it is. I’m no doctor. I just know what he said was wrong.
Oscar Defends Garcia’s Character
“I know Ryan. Ryan is not a racist guy; he’s just not. I know him. He’s not that,” said De La Hoya. “When he’s around people, and he’s taking this or that, and he’s drunk, and people are talking, ‘Come on, man.’ I can see Ryan going along with it.”
De La Hoya knows Ryan, and he would have seen signs of racism in him at some point. No one knows if Ryan was drunk, on drugs, or if he’s experiencing early schizoid symptoms. A psychiatrist could identify if Ryan has psychological problems that would require medication and a treatment plan. Ryan would know if he was drunk or on drugs or whoever was with him.
“It’s obviously wrong, but I don’t see Ryan being racist. I just don’t. I don’t feel it. I don’t see it, and that’s why I want to talk to him. I want to get to the bottom of it and make the right decision because, like I said, if I throw fuel on the fire, who knows what’s going to happen,” said De La Hoya.
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