Boxing legend, founder and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, has slammed the recent forays of UFC president Dana White into boxing during his latest “Thursday Reprimand” segment, dismissing White’s attempts to get into the boxing business and criticising the UFC‘s fighter pay structure.
De La Hoya, who was a six-division world champion in his day and one of the most influential promoters in boxing, did not hold back when talking about White‘s possible foray into boxing alongside Turki Alalshikh, the driving force behind the “Riyadh Season” super fights.
Oscar De La Hoya criticises possible structure
The Golden Boy founder pointed to the UFC’s controversial pay scale and leaked TKO Boxing fighter salaries as evidence that White’s model would not translate to boxing, where elite stars such as Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia take home multimillion-dollar prizes.
“You can’t run a boxing organization without fighters,” De La Hoya joked. “No fighter is going to fight for these pennies. Are you telling me that the Canelos and the Ryans of this world are going to accept this kind of pay cut?
Unlike MMA, where the UFC dominates the market, boxing’s decentralized structure allows fighters to negotiate with multiple promoters and networks, with earnings that are much higher than what is being offered.
The retired boxer also criticized the UFC’s current matchmaking model, citing the lack of contractual negotiations for fighters, saying: “Most of their prospects will fight once or twice a year and will be forced to survive on minimum wage, and bear in mind that they will fight tough fights… Their careers will be short.”
Dana White has been wanting to get into boxing for several years
White has long been hinting at a move into boxing, and rumors intensified after his involvement in the lucrative crossover fight between Mayweather and McGregor in 2017. In 2019, White attempted to launch his own promotion, “Zuffa Boxing”, without success.
Despite his harsh words, De La Hoya left the door open for future collaborations, albeit with a hint to the boxing industry itself.
“Will I work with Dana in the future if he’s in boxing?” De La Hoya asked rhetorically. “Sure, because 80 percent of the people I deal with in boxing are crooks anyway.”
The war of words is just beginning. If White goes ahead with his boxing plans, more criticism from traditional promoters and possibly a bidding war for the best talent is expected. Meanwhile, De La Hoya remains focused on filling DAZN’s schedule with star-studded fights.
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