Golden Boy files lawsuit against Ryan Garcia following allegations of contract violations

Ryan Garcia’s legal team sent a letter to Golden Boy Promotions last week alleging violations of their promotional agreement, and in turn, Golden Boy have filed a lawsuit against Garcia and attorney/advisor Guadalupe Valencia.

Mike Coppinger at ESPN.com had the initial report.

The relationship between Garcia, 24, and Golden Boy has been a rocky one repeatedly, but this is the worst it has gotten to date, following Garcia’s loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis on Apr. 22, after which Garcia complained that nobody from his camp — including promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins — attended the post-fight press conference.

De La Hoya and Hopkins have both said that the promotional people on Davis’ side barred them from attending, and it was also said they had a dinner reservation to make, so there are multiple stories there. Either way, Garcia wasn’t happy, and both De La Hoya and Hopkins, the two “faces” of Golden Boy as a company, have expressed their own disappointment with Garcia’s reaction and behavior in the aftermath.

Golden Boy seek to continue their contract with Garcia, whose team allege violations of their agreement that would invalidate the contract.

The whole thing is, of course, very reminiscent of the nasty split between Golden Boy and Canelo Alvarez, which ended in 2020 with Canelo being freed from his deal. Garcia’s letter, like Canelo’s complaint, cites Golden Boy having conflicting agreements with their fighter and their broadcast partner, DAZN.

Garcia also seeks to end contractual exclusivity with DAZN, and wants to be reimbursed fees he paid the streamer to allow the Davis fight to happen on Showtime pay-per-view.

There are several more claims from the Garcia side. Golden Boy, of course, believe they have fulfilled their obligations to the fighter.

This seems unlikely to shake out in a way that sees the Garcia and Golden Boy relationship continue happily, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have to continue. Garcia originally signed with Golden Boy in 2016, and re-signed with them in 2019 after a public dispute. They had further issues in 2020. Garcia believes his contract should be up on Nov. 1 of this year.