Ryan Garcia recently appeared on Chris Williamson’s podcast Modern Wisdom, where he shared his thoughts on Zuffa Boxing and the proposed changes to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
When asked directly about the Zuffa deal, Garcia admitted he remains cautious because there are still too many unknowns.
“That’s a little weird. I don’t know exactly what kind of changes they’re trying to make to the Ali Act to benefit Zuffa, or I don’t know what they’re trying to do,” Garcia said. “And I’m not saying I’m against Zuffa at all. I just want to give it time before I even want to acknowledge it too much, because I don’t know if it’s going to make us not get paid as much. I don’t know if it’s going to make the sport better. So I kind of wanted to sit back and watch what kind of unfolds there.”
Garcia then touched on the debate surrounding the Ali Act, referencing the congressional discussions involving major boxing figures and executives.
“I don’t know if it’s Dana White, or I know Nick Khan spoke at the Congress, and Oscar did. Oscar on the side of not changing anything, and then Nick was trying to change things,” Garcia explained. “That’s kind of what I got out of it. And then something about how it helps everything be transparent. I know the Ali Act, like they have to show the numbers.”
Even while discussing pay transparency, Garcia stressed that he does not want to speak too confidently on a topic he is still researching.
“I don’t know if they’re trying to change it where we don’t get to be disclosed the numbers,” he said. “I can’t, I don’t want to speak for it because I don’t really necessarily know.”
Garcia also shared what he believes is Oscar De La Hoya’s primary concern regarding potential changes to the legislation.
“That was Oscar’s point,” Garcia said. “Oscar’s point was this was made to protect the boxers and make sure that everything’s just transparent.”
Although Garcia said he is open to boxing evolving, he also made it clear he does not want the sport to adopt too many elements from the UFC model.
“I’m all up for change, but as long as it makes sense,” Garcia said. “As long as it’s like, all right, we’re evolving in the right direction. I don’t want it to become the UFC. That’s what I’m saying. Zuffa is cool, but if it looks too much like the UFC, that’s not my vibe. And then you can’t wear your own shorts.”
