Oscar De La Hoya Running Mouth in Desperate Attempt to Stay Relevant
You’ve got to feel for Oscar De La Hoya. In his prime, he was an absolute monster. Olympic gold medallist as an amateur, and as a pro he won 11 world titles across 6 weight divisions. He’s a genuine boxing hall of famer, and one of the best to ever do it.
As a promoter though, he’s desperately trying to stay relevant.
Golden Boy promotions was a big deal in the early 00’s and beyond. Their roster included some of the biggest names in the sport, and they’ve promoted some huge events. Led by De La Hoya, the company enjoyed a pretty stellar reputation for years and were arguably the biggest and best boxing promotional company in the world.
When the wheels fell off though, the company crashed hard.
De La Hoya checked into rehab in the days leading up to the biggest promotion of his career – the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather. In subsequent interviews he admitted to a long history of drink and drug abuse, including during his boxing days.
Their relationship continued to be a successful one, but in 2020 he lost Canelo as a client. A bitter lawsuit followed, with Alvarez claiming breach of contract and financial irregularities, among other things.
De La Hoya Admits Struggles
The relationship between Golden Boy and Canelo has never healed, and as recently as May this year De La Hoya and Alvarez exchanged verbal insults. At the press conference of his fight against Mungia (who is promoted by De La Hoya), Alvarez said to De La Hoya…
“If I hadn’t involved my lawyers, you would steal from me. The only thing this man does is be a scourge of boxing. Steal from boxers. For whoever is with him, please contact your lawyers, because he is surely stealing from you. It’s the only thing he comes to do in boxing.”
Later on, De La Hoya told reporters…
“Yes, there were some really low points in my life. And yes, there were times that work was not my priority based on my mental health, which I had neglected for so long. But that doesn’t change the fact that Golden Boy built Canelo over this period.”
He’s Still Picking Fights
Golden Boy is a shadow of what it used to be, and now only promotes three world title holders. There’s no real stars in their line up, and De La Hoya is picking fights with other promoters in a desperate attempt to stay relevant…
I’m sorry Regis @MatchroomBoxing ruined your career. With the worst matchmaking in the business.
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) October 26, 2024
Eddie Hearn, who at the Catterall and Prograis post fight presser learned about De La Hoya’s tweet pointed out that Prograis had enjoyed huge fights for the world title and earned a lot of money as a Matchroom fighter. He’s since gone on to hit back at De La Hoya…
It’s a shame when a legends loses his way, but perhaps De La Hoya should focus more on rebuilding his business, his career and his reputation than picking fights with the wider sport of boxing.
