De La Hoya Bashes New Muhammad Ali Act Bill – ‘This Is A Warning To All Fighters'

Oscar De La Hoya has slammed the efforts made to amend the Muhammad Ali Act, claiming that it is "malevolent."

Oscar’s comments come after the introduction of a new bill, The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, in U.S. Congress. The bill wants to offer alternatives to the way the major sanctioning bodies, WBC, WBO, IBF, and WBA operate. The bill allows Unified Boxing Organizations to create their championship titles, rankings, give a minimum payment of $150 per round and offer health coverage. The bill could allow boxing to mirror the UFC, which is heavily centralized.

However, De La Hoya has warned fighters about the dangers of this. Boxers ultimately are paid much more at the elite level than UFC fighters. The UFC has been criticized for not paying fighters enough, some of whom have second jobs to finance their careers. While that also happens in boxing, some boxers earn more than entire UFC cards combined in one fight.

De La Hoya Reacts

"Think about this, the UFC was sued by their own fighters for this unethical sh-t. They recently settled on a $375M antitrust lawsuit over claims they used illegal practices to suppress fighter’s wages and rival promoters. And after all that they’re coming to another sport and trying to do the exact same f-ckin’ thing. Look, Dana White is a [douche bag], always flaunting his relationship with President Donald Trump and is very clearly banking on this getting pushed through using that connection. 

"Scumbags will always be scumbags and every move they make is so f-ckin’ predictable. The Ali Act is there for a good reason…The fact this is the first move they want to make in boxing tells you everything you need to know. TKO will lie and tell you it’s better for everyone…they’re doing the opposite. I’m telling you now, this is a warning to all fighters.

"Fighters beware…And now, of course, as TKO prepares to enter the boxing space the first thing they want to do is change this act and leave fighters vulnerable. TKO needs this to change so they implement the exact same unethical business practices in boxing that they used to create a monopoly with UFC," De La Hoya said 

The benefits of the act may be that boxers are forced to face the best, something which the sport has not always lived up to. However, the introduction of the Saudis into boxing has changed that. And yet, there is an argument that the massive paydays are no longer sustainable. This is especially due to the criticism that many fighters are simply looking to secure a big purse without producing an action-packed performance in the ring. De La Hoya’s comments have gotten many boxing fans talking.

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