Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t really believe that boxing needs to be saved.
The Hall of Fame boxer-turned-promoter was merely appling a familiar slogan – “the fight to save boxing” – to the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia pay-per-view showdown Saturday in Las Vegas to make a point: This is a massive event.
“It’s a clash of titans,” Garcia’s promoter told Boxing Junkie. “Now, with today’s media, it makes it that much bigger.”
Indeed, Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) are two of the most popular figures in the sport.
That can be attributed in part to their ability and success. Who doesn’t love unbeaten young knockout artists on the rise?
It goes beyond that, however. Davis and Garcia are masters at using social media to market themselves. Their appeal isn’t limited to their athletic careers; they’re also personalities who resonate with their followers behind the scenes.
De La Hoya, the face of boxing in his day, didn’t have social media as a tool. He couldn’t be more pleased that Davis and Garcia do.
“They know how to play the game,” he said.
As a result, Davis, who has more experience than Garcia in big fights, has packed arenas not only in his native Baltimore but also Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other hotbeds of boxing. As De La Hoya said, “Gervonta Davis has something special.”
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Garcia has movie star looks to go with his boxing and self-marketing skills. Sound familiar? De La Hoya was credited with expanding the boundaries of the sport for the same reason.
“Ryan Garcia has a huge fan base,” De La Hoya said. “And it’s a different fan base, a female fanbase. It will be monumental when people hear about the pay-per-view numbers this fight did. You have to attribute that to a lot women who will buy the pay-per-view because of Ryan Garcia.
“… Attracting female fans is unheard of. I would say the last guy to do it was myself.”
Garcia is a good looking guy who understands marketing and knocks out almost everyone he faces. Davis is a relatable “working man’s fighter,” De La Hoya said, who also destroys everything in his path.
De La Hoya labeled the matchup, “the best of both worlds.”
“I keep on saying this is the fight to save boxing,” he said. “It just reminds me of me and [Felix] Trinidad. Bob Arum and Don King called it the fight to save boxing. Every decade has a fight to save boxing. Even though boxing doesn’t need to be saved, this fight is very unique.
“In terms of popularity, this is the biggest fight of this decade. This is it. It’s perfect.”