De La Hoya On Turki Alalshikh: 'Zero Communication'
Oscar De La Hoya says his communication with Turki Alalshikh has stopped and that the Saudi power broker has chosen Dana White to run boxing in the United States. "There's zero communication," De La Hoya told Ariel Helwani on Monday, per Boxing Insider. "The bottom line is that Turki picked Dana White to run boxing in the US, that's his guy."
The Golden Boy Promotions founder was absent from the July 18 press conference in New York where White stood between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn during their on-stage confrontation. De La Hoya, who has promoted Garcia for the fighter's entire pro career, told Helwani the omission was deliberate. He accused Zuffa Boxing of intentionally keeping him away from White and said he believes the promotion is afraid of what might happen if the two share a stage.
De La Hoya Vows Front-Row Presence at Vegas Fight Week
De La Hoya promised to be front and center during fight week in Las Vegas when Garcia defends his WBC welterweight title against Benn on September 12 at T-Mobile Arena. The fight became official earlier this month after two months of tense negotiations between Golden Boy and Zuffa Boxing. The Golden Boy founder also warned fighters about Zuffa's recruiting strategy, which recently landed four-division champion Shakur Stevenson. He claimed the promotion is offering large upfront money but will change contract terms long-term, comparing the approach to a Trojan horse.
De La Hoya criticized White directly, saying the UFC CEO has no clue which fighters are under Zuffa contract and treats every boxer as a number because the promotion operates under publicly traded TKO Group Holdings. The comments about Alalshikh carry history — Golden Boy staged Riyadh Season events as recently as May 2025 before aligning with Top Rank, Matchroom and Queensberry in new DAZN deals as Zuffa's rivals consolidated on the platform.
Photo: Salvation Army USA West / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Original reporting:
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