De La Hoya Will Fight Hearn For Free – ‘I’ll Knock Him Out’

November 12, 2024

3 weeks

De La Hoya Will Fight Hearn For Free - 'I’ll Knock Him Out'

Oscar De La Hoya has has continued with feud with Eddie Hearn, stating that he will fight the Matchroom Boxing promoter for free.

The two have been firing verbal shots at each other for some time, with De La Hoya being critical of Hearn’s promotional skills. He has regularly talked down his ability to promote fighters in the US, telling him to stay in the United Kingdom. He mocked Hearn’s fighters for losing, such as Dmitry Bivol’s loss to Artur Beterbiev. Meanwhile, he warned fighters not to sign with Matchroom when Shakur Stevenson got injured before even making his debut with the promotional company. After a slow start in the United States, Hearn has now managed to sign a significant amount of American talent.

He has the IBF Welterweight Champion Jaron Ennis. He also has Shakur Stevenson, who is the WBC Lightweight Champion. Hearn has also worked with other big fighters, such as Canelo Alvarez. However, De La Hoya has not been happy with Hearn’s tactics, even if they do share the same broadcasting partner in DAZN. He recently teased the idea of a 5 v 5 card against Hearn. The latter did that against Frank Warren’s Queensberry. However, it did not go down very well, as Hearn lost all those fights.

De La Hoya On Hearn

A card against De La Hoya would allow him to right those wrongs, as Hearn was receptive to the idea.
De La Hoya suggested he would face Hearn in a main event to make it 6 v 6. Hearn responded to those claims, stating that he would consider the fight provided if it was for the right money. De La Hoya confirmed that he would need around two months to get himself in shape. Hearn questioned the length of time De La Hoya needed. However, De La Hoya has now thrown down the gauntlet and stated that he would be willing to fight him for free.

“You’re Excellency, I will fight Eddie for free as a gift to you. For free, it’ll be my pleasure. I only need two months of training. I still have my jab and my power. [And] I already know the combination I’ll knock him out with. I have it in my head already. No, I don’t want to share it just in case we do fight. I think it’ll be a four-round or 5-round fight. I want to have some fun in there,” De La Hoya said

The Future

The feud is seen as a wider part of Hearn’s rise in the United States. De La Hoya is one of the biggest promoters in the US. This is alongside PBC, who had their deal with Showtime. However, following Showtime’s departure from boxing, De La Hoya’s brand has grown. PBC’s deal with Amazon Prime Video has not made the significant inroads that perhaps they were hoping for.

Their biggest fights this year have been Tim Tszyu vs Sebastian Fundora and Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin. These are not the biggest fights. Artur Beterbiev vs. Dimitry Bivol for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship was bigger, which Hearn was involved in. De La Hoya would have hoped that he would have been a leading player in the US market. But it appears that Hearn is leading the way, something which may have annoyed De La Hoya. And now he hopes to settle the score in the ring.