Golden Boy Promotions head Oscar De La Hoya offered a promising update Friday on the negotiations that are currently taking place for the potential pitting between Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis. 

“Everybody is eager about that fight. That is the only fight Ryan wants. That's the only fight that Tank wants,” De La Hoya told FightHub TV in an interview. 

“Look, we're talking. We're talking, so, yeah, it's a great start. To get to talk to the other side is a great start. We want the fight. That's the bottom line. So as negotiations continue, maybe we'll release something, but in the meantime, we're keeping everything hushed because we want to surprise everybody with this super fight that is happening later on this year.”

A fight between Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) and Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) would be one of the biggest commercial boxing matches the sport could possibly stage. 

It would also require both sides to make several consolations.

Garcia is tied to Golden Boy and DAZN. Davis is linked to Mayweather Promotions, Premier Boxing Champions, and their preferred network, Showtime.

Showtime has been adamant in recent weeks that a potential pay-per-view should be exclusive to its premium cable network. The position has received pushback from top players from both Golden Boy and DAZN. 

In addition to executives figuring out which platform would carry the showcase, the fighters have to agree on the weight at which they would battle it out. 

Garcia has vocalized his future is at 140 pounds, but he’s walked back his comments in order to entice Davis. The Baltimore-bred Davis has campaigned across 130 and 140 pounds over his last five fights. 

Career-long rivals De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have rarely conducted business with each other over the last 15 years outside of the blockbuster fight they staged in 2007 – a split decision win for Mayweather. 

Perhaps as a ploy to get in Mayweather’s good graces during Garcia-Davis negotiations, De La Hoya went out of his way to overly praise Mayweather last week for all of his accomplishments.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.