Oscar De La Hoya takes shots at Eddie Hearn
In the world of business, regardless of the product or service, competition is a natural phenomenon. This is especially the case in the sport of boxing. Obviously, the fighters can and do maintain very ferocious rivalries and antagonistic relationships, this is only to be expected. Yet, the same is true for boxing promoters. In many instances, the promoters harbor much more vitriolic grudges than do their charges. This appears to be the case with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) owner Oscar De La Hoya.
While recently going live via his social media, the former world champion turned promoter denigrated fellow fight hustler Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. When Hearn, who is also the front man for DAZN, touched down in the US, he near instantly began making enemies. His brash and arrogant manner of carrying himself alienated him from many American institutions and individuals. Clearly, De La Hoya was one of those people.
“What’s that promoter that has no clue what to do in the US? I think his name is Hearn or something, yeah, Thomas Hearn. Thomas Hearn, stay in the UK, promote your fights. You have no clue what you’re doing in the US. DAZN is doing the right thing by sticking with Golden Boy.”
GOT YOUR CROWN JEWEL!
For years, Golden Boy was at the helm of unified super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s career. It’s common knowledge that Canelo is the current face of boxing, which of course makes him an extremely valuable asset to a promoter. The redhead signed up with GBP back in the beginning of 2010. Despite their eleven-year working relationship however, Alvarez recently decided to part ways with De La Hoya and Golden Boy. When the Mexican did jump ship, he chose to align himself with Eddie Hearn. Technically speaking, Canelo is a free agent but Hearn functions as his promoter.
This is why many might say that De La Hoya is being rather petty in his recent attacks. Yet, it should be noted that Canelo is far from the first fighter that he lost. In fact, back in 2017, the Golden Boy lost the greater majority of his stable in one fell swoop. This took place when former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer enticed a large bulk of his boxers to join ranks with the PBC. It was a near crippling blow for the promotional company and began a deep seated animosity for Schaefer and PBC mastermind Al Haymon. Oscar De La Hoya would go on to sue Haymon for 30 million dollars, yet the lawsuit was dismissed before it really got off the ground.
IDLE ACCUSATIONS
It’s actually rather ironic that the Golden Boy would say that Hearn has no idea what he is doing. This is because, as far as his top tier fighters go, Hearn has been shown great loyalty by his stable. Likewise, Haymon fighters are so loyal that the abundant praise that his boxers lavish him on during in-ring post-fight interviews has become a standing industry joke. In fact, despite losing his last in-ring contest, heavyweight Anthony Joshua just pledged the rest of his career to Hearn and Matchroom. This is why it’s that much more curious as to why De La Hoya would attempt to sully the work that Hearn has put in with AJ.
“Edward Hearn, that guy should fucking promote in the UK, stay away from the US! He does not know how to promote!
…Usyk crowned himself world champion and Eddie Hearn ruined Joshua’s career!”
Again, this is an odd attack. If allowed to have it his way, Hearn was going to have AJ fight Tyson Fury in an all-UK battle to declare the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Not only that, each fighter was set to make the most lucrative payday in the history of the sport. The only reason that the fight did not take place was because Deontay Wilder won an arbitration case that required Fury to bow out of the super-fight.
So instead of dancing with Fury, Joshua would go on to face his WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk. Even though Joshua would lose to Usyk, it’s rather farfetched to say that Hearn was responsible for destroying his career. AJ literally had to duel with the Ukrainian or lose his belt. Therefore, it’s hard to label Hearn a scumbag or promotional dullard in that particular situation. Underneath it all though, this is merely a case of throwing stones at the enemy simply because it could be done. It will be interesting to see how the verbose Hearn responds to this assault on his professionalism though.
By: Bakari Simpson
Be the first to comment