Oscar De La Hoya Correctly Blames Fighters For Boxing’s Demise
The popularity of boxing has taken a dip in the last ten years. Hall of Famer and now promoter Oscar De La Hoya blames the fighters for refusing to fight the best of the best in and around their division. De La Hoya is correct in his assessment. The sport is currently in a poor state and has lost its luster with the mainstream sports fanbase.
Throughout 2024, De La Hoya gave weekly recaps of the sport on social media. In his most recent installment, the Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said the following:
“We have to get our shit together. Fighters are not daring to be great, and we are stuck accepting mediocre fights. Being a fighter and now a promoter, knowing the ins and outs because I’m in it, I have to say it’s the fighters who are killing the sport.
People are trying to blame the promoters, the managers, the trainers. No, it’s the fighters . . . Fighters today don’t think they’re getting paid enough, or they’re scared of taking an L . . . In boxing, we know the outcome of the “big fights” these days before the fight even starts!”
NOT THE SAME MINDSET
De La Hoya went on to point out that during his days as a fighter, he went out and sought the best competition available. When others dared to suggest a safer route, he scoffed at the notion because he was the one who had the final say-so. He was the product of the 1990s and early 2000s when you generally witnessed elite fighters test themselves regularly.
You don’t see that attitude with most of this current generation. Instead, the mindset seems based on the title of the classic Wu-Tang Clan song, CREAM (Cash Rules Everything Around Me).
It’s ridiculous that Gervonta “Tank” Davis has been a world champion since 2017 yet has never engaged in a unification fight. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez gets away with staging pay-per-view events against B and C-level competition. Two-division champion Teofimo Lopez makes more headlines for his questionable rhetoric than what he does in the ring. Ryan Garcia is treated like an A-level superstar, even though he’s never won a world title!
To the credit of the modern-day fighter, they have more financial awareness. Many current fighters have financial revenue streams outside of the sport. However, that has resulted in a lack of pride in the craft and effort creating a legacy that fans will remember when your fighting days are over.
You can become financially stable while in the pursuit of greatness. It’s something that fighters in the past understood. That’s the crux of De La Hoya’s argument, and he’s not wrong for saying so. It’s what all fighters should be aspiring to do, today’s fighters included.
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