Undefeated American youngster Ryan Garcia reiterated that he only has two targets in mind for his next fight but nothing is final on paper.
Garcia, in an interview with FightHype.com, cleared the air on his end and explained the sequence of events that led him in posting a supposed fight poster against Manny Pacquiao on social media.
"In that, I really wanted to fight Tank. I said that after the fight , I gave the people the chance to say Haney or Tank. They said Tank," said Garcia, adding that Gervonte Davis had agreed to it verbally and not on paper just yet. "So I go in, I started promoting the Tank fight because that's the fight that I want and in order to get the fight goin', you promote it, right?"
"People gotta stop saying that I came to Pacquiao. I had no clue about Pacquiao. I didn't even knew that Pacquiao was looking to fight anybody. I have no clue what Pacquiao was doing. I said about the Pacquiao fight during the promotion for my fight with Campbell. I said that'll be my dream fight, that's what I see after I fight Tank."
The 22-year-old Garcia recalled that it was his own handlers in Golden Boy Promotions that gave him the glimmer of hope of a possible fight against Pacquiao.
Read: De La Hoya: No progress in Pacquiao-Garcia negotiation
And that's where everything blew up after Garcia posted the mock poster on social media.
"So they call me. This is the truth. They call me and say: This could be a possibility. Unless somebody's lying to me then that's what it is. Then it started moving then started saying that there's more hope to it. When I released that poster right, they were all excited for it. Oscar was talking to me before that, 'Hey Ryan, I can make this fight happen.' Cool," said the interim WBC lightweight champion.
"To me, it shows how big that fight would is and still is. I mean almost two million likes, reached a bunch of people. And that's just the facts, that's just the numbers. It went crazy, it went nuts. That's just what the numbers show."
Garcia, however, got a "little upset" upon learning the news that Golden Boy Promotions chief Oscar De La Hoya had told the press that "it's just all Instagram."
Read: Garcia’s trainer wants Davis instead of Pacquiao
"Are you serious right now? Like the reason I was saying, 'Are you serious right now?' because you trying to make it seem like I was searching for clout. I could care less about that. I'm here about business. I'm here about making the big fight happen," explained Garcia. "I came here to use what I have, which is social media platform, to build a fight. Now, don't get mad at me. I'm not doing it for clout. I was doing just fine, I was doing just fine.
In a separate interview, De La Hoya said there has been "zero" movement as far as the negotiations with Pacquiao's camp are concerned. Those comments didn't sit too well for the prized Golden Boy Promotions stalwart.
"Don't try to make a lie on me. That's what I don't accept, you don't lie on me. That's unprofessional, one. Two, we're supposed to be on the same team with the same vision. We just got out of meeting saying we're gonna shoot for the Pacquiao fight. If not, it's all good. Let's go for Tank, whatever. We had that in mind."
Despite the argument, Garcia stressed that there's nothing but love for everybody and that includes his camp and De La Hoya.
That said, the American youngster, who holds a 21-0 record with 18 knockouts, is firm that there are no other names aside from Pacquiao and Davis on his wishlist. If those fights won't come into fruition, then it's up for the Golden Boy Promotions to decide what's the next best thing for him, said Garcia.
"I got respect for both of them though. That's the thing. I got respect for Tank and Pacquiao... Both of them can knock me out. And I can knock them out. That's just the facts. It's a fight."