Dana White does not expect his long-running feud with Oscar De La Hoya to spill over into a face-to-face moment at Garcia vs. Benn. White said this week he does not think he and De La Hoya will run into each other at the card, even as the event brings another chapter in a rivalry that has lingered for nine years.
The bigger takeaway for the fight itself is contractual. White said Garcia will still have one fight left on his deal after Saturday night, ending conflicting reports about whether this weekend would be the final bout on the Golden Boy contract. That means Garcia is not heading into free agency after this fight, but he is getting close to that point.
De La Hoya largely absent from fight-week build-up
De La Hoya has been mostly out of sight during the buildup to the event, which fits the pattern around this week. Earlier this week, White brushed off a question about De La Hoya's role by saying, "you answered your own question," after being asked whether they would share a stage. On Thursday, White hosted the final press conference while both fighters and the co-main took the stage and De La Hoya was absent.
That absence was notable because De La Hoya had already suggested in June that the press conferences might end up being more interesting than the fight itself because of the friction between him and White. In July, he was left off the New York launch stage and told Ariel Helwani the exclusion was deliberate. White, for his part, said this week, "I don’t think Oscar and I are going to run into each other."
What the contract note means
The contract detail is the clearest dateable development coming out of fight week. With one fight left after Saturday, Garcia remains under contract for now, but the runway is short. For fans following the business side of the matchup, that matters as much as the result in the ring.
White's comments also narrow the focus around the event itself. The on-site storyline is no longer just whether the feud between White and De La Hoya will flare up again. It is also about what comes next for Garcia, who appears to be one bout away from a major contractual turning point.
