Bernard Hopkin feels that Ryan Garcia showed that he lacked focus during Thursday’s final press conference for his bounce-back fight against Oscar Duarte this Saturday, December 2.
Instead of light welterweight Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) focusing on his opponent Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) during the press conference, he used much of his time speaking about his grievances with Hopkins and promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
Ryan was supposed to be promoting his fight with the 27-year-old Duarte, who sees this as his opportunity to change his life, but instead, he used the press conference to air his beef with Bernard & De La Hoya, as if he wanted to make them look bad.
The things Ryan said should have been said in private to those guys instead of being brought out in the open during the press conference.
Ryan sounded like he wanted the media to take his side, and it made him seem out of touch with reality. At one point, Ryan went over the deep end, trying to connect the dots between Golden Boy matching him with fringe contenders Duarte & Romero Duno, saying that they set up fights with these guys because they wanted to get him beat.
Ryan didn’t sound rational at that moment. Indeed, afterward, De La Hoya expressed concern about Ryan’s mental state due to his strange behavior during the process conference.
“I wasn’t intense because you got to fight a guy on Saturday night. Nothing else should be on your mind,” said Bernard Hopkins to K.O. Artist Sports when asked about his thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s comments during Thursday’s final press conference for his fight against Oscar Duarte this Saturday night.
“I thought it was a shame and sad. You have to have someone around you to tell you, ‘That’s who you’re fighting.’ Focus, you must stay focused. Can you imagine the other fighters learning what not to do. So, it wasn’t intense.
“I seen some people in the media looking like [what is Ryan talking about?]. Take care of your business. Your family is counting on you. Your legacy is counting on you, and many other people might be counting on you to do what you set out to do.”
Hopkins looked confused during the press conference while watching Ryan rip into him, talking for almost three minutes about him, and even bringing up his loss to Joe Smith Jr at one point to score points.
“It ain’t about me. It’s about you. I’m not a person who is going to kiss your a** and tell you what you want to hear. It’s not personal. It’s business,” said Hopkins.
Some would argue that Ryan Garcia wants to be treated like he’s a world champion by Golden Boy, yet he’s not, and there’s a very real possibility that he never will unless he can pick up a vacant belt against a vulnerable opponent, like we saw with Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero recent, capturing a vacant belt fighting a 40-year-old.
“You can’t lie to the world and make an excuse for your downfalls. You got to take ownership and bounce back like great ones do. My legacy is secured. People are still trying to figure out you are what you say you are. I defended that you’re not a YouTuber,” said Hopkins.
