Oscar De La Hoya has admitted he felt offended by the launch of Dana White and Turki Alalshikh’s boxing league.
UFC president White announced last week that he would venture into the world of boxing promotion.
He will join up with Saudi boxing chief Alalshikh and WWE chief Nick Khan, to form a boxing league under the TKO banner, which they plan to use to revolutionise the sport.
Of course the traditional boxing promoters and governing bodies could feel under threat, given how White monopolised the sport of MMA.
And De La Hoya, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions which holds a stable featuring Ryan Garcia, was a bit taken aback by the news but remains defiant.
He said: “I did hear that he [Alalshikh] passed over the reigns of boxing to Dana White.
“I felt a little offended, because I’ve been in boxing all my life and I’ve been promoting for 20 odd years.
“So what I’m going to do is stay in my lane and do what I do for Golden Boy and with DAZN and give the fight fans the best fights that can possibly be made, just the way we’ve been doing for years.
“You know working with Turki, Riyadh Season, it’s an honour for me to do that, but I have my business that I’m going to take care of as well.
“And nobody’s going to touch me there because we are the best developers in the fight game, and we take our fighters to championship levels, to superstardom like the way we did with Canelo [Alvarez] and Ryan Garcia.
“I’m gonna stick in my lane and I’m going to work with Turki because it has been very positive, it has been really good.
“The competition in boxing is really good, it’s positive, it’s great, but I’m going to continue doing what I do because boxing is what I love, boxing is what it’s what made me, what helped me get here, and I’m never leaving.”
GettyDe La Hoya felt a tad offended by the launch[/caption]
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De La Hoya will continue to promote alongside competitors Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and Bob Arum as they look to fend off White’s new project.
The boxing legend himself has been tangled in a feud with UFC kingpin White for years, which will add another epic layer to the promotional rivalry.
White has big plans for the sport alongside Alalshikh, which are likely to include reduced amount of weight classes, and fighters competing for only one belt.
Their model will likely provide challenges to the vintage boxing set-up, which has been in place for decades.
Alalshikh and White’s first event could aggravate De La Hoya even more.
It is expected White could well promote Canelo Alvarez’s huge fight with Terence Crawford on September 12 as a curtain-raiser for their new venture.
Despite De La Hoya’s concerns, fellow promoter Hearn isn’t as fearful over the launch of the competition.
He added: “Whether you take [what he said] seriously and whether that is his plan, it probably ruffled a few feathers.
“My phone has been red hot with people saying ‘We have got to get together’. But I am pretty chilled about it.
“I think it is amazing news to be honest with you. If you are comfortable with your business and you believe in your ability, then I think it is brilliant.
“Any time someone like Dana White, TKO and Nick Khan want to make a play in boxing, that goes to show you where boxing is at.
“The one thing I disagree with His Excellency and Dana White over is that boxing is not broken. Boxing is in the best place it has ever been in.”
