De La Hoya Pushes Back Against Dana White’s Boxing League – ‘I Felt Offended, I’m Never Leaving’
Oscar De La Hoya has hit back at Turki Al-Sheikh and Dana White’s new boxing league, which threatens to shake up the industry.
White and the Saudis announced they would be starting a new league. The aim is to hold their first event in September. Reports indicate this could very well be Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford. That is one of the biggest fights in the sport. It could be an undisputed clash at 168 pounds if the results go the right way and Canelo defeats William Scull in his next fight.
This new venture poses serious question marks over the status of the current boxing industry and its governing bodies. The WBO, WBC, WBA, and IBF are the major organizations that have come under intense scrutiny. There is a perception they get in the way of making the biggest fights due to mandatory obligations.
Implications
There is also criticism that boxers have to pay sanctioning fees to retain their belts. Turki Al-Sheikh’s decision to acquire the Ring Magazine, something De La Hoya allowed, has enabled him to push that belt. The Ring Magazine has long been respected. The current focus is to create one champion, just like there is in the UFC.
Dana White was recently asked about the prospect of working alongside the other major boxing promoters. The CEO of the UFC made it clear this was not his plan. There appears to be a focus on establishing a new way in boxing moving forward. This naturally poses a threat to De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. He ultimately sold the Ring Magazine to Turki Al-Sheikh, which has now enabled him to gain a foothold in the boxing industry.
Oscar also put on some big shows with Riyadh Season, thus increasing the credibility of the Saudis in the sport. That decision could very well backfire if De La Hoya is driven out of business by the new boxing League. However, De La Hoya made it clear that he is not going anywhere. The aim is to continue his business. This could create new alliances with other boxing promoters, such as Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.
De La Hoya Reacts
“I did hear that he passed over the reigns of boxing to Dana White. I felt a little offended, because I’ve been in boxing all my life and I’ve been promoting for 20 odd years. So what I’m going to do is stay in my lane and do what I do for Golden Boy and with DAZN and give the fight fans the best fights that can possibly be made, just the way we’ve been doing for years.
“You know working with Turki, Riyadh Season…it’s an honor for me to do that, but I have my business that I’m going to take care of as well, and nobody’s going to touch me there because we are the best developers in the fight game, and we take our fighters to championship levels, to superstardom like the way we did with Canelo and Ryan Garcia.
“I’m gonna stick in my lane and I’m going to work with Turki because it has been very positive, it has been really good. The competition in boxing is really good, it’s positive, it’s great, but I’m going to continue doing what I do because boxing is what I love, boxing is what it’s what made me, what helped me get here, and I’m never leaving,” De La Hoya
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