By Ryan Burton
In recent months Oscar De La Hoya has mentioned repeatedly that he wants to make the best fights possible. This renewed commitment coincides with him taking on a bigger role in his position of President at Golden Boy Promotions and the resignation of former CEO Richard Schaefer. De La Hoya stated that making the best fights will be the focus of the company moving forward.
Fellow Golden Boy stakeholder Bernard Hopkins is on the same page as De La Hoya and said that future Golden Boy recruits will have to share the vision and not expect to be babied as they move their way up from being a prospect to contender.
"We will continue to make the best fights and build fighters up the right way - and that's not cherry picking and that's not babysitting. We understand that eventually you are going to have to fight the fights that the network and the people would rather have. That's no problem. We understand business is business.
"We want to make fighters understand also that if you want to be the best in this division and you say you are the best - that's a different scenario than actually not fighting the best - we will test you to understand that if you want to be on this team, and Oscar will repeat what I just said if you ask him, don't look to be baby sitted and pampered and treated like a prima donna and also on the other hand not to be thrown in there disrespectfully," Hopkins explained.
Hopkins said that by being matched tough, Golden Boy's fighters will be battle tested enough to not only become champion, but to have staying power and used himself as an example
"If you want to be in a position to take care of yourself and your family for the rest of your lives and build your legacy you have to trust us and we have to trust you. And to trust you means you have to be ready. Take no one lightly and no more built up records. We had that already. When you are 15-0 or 20-0, you went through those feel out stages to see where you are at with your rankings and career. See those days are over now because the fans are starting to speak and guess what? If you are fighting just to be a contender and are comfortable with that, that is fine but if you want to be a world champion and above and beyond that - then you have to do something special and that is fighting the best opponents.
"This ain't about me but I gotta use me and I'm going to use a few other people. When guys like myself who was 49 at the time and took on a big, strong Russian who's 20 years younger than me and you young guys up here are being led and fooled and hoodwinked by people who are saying no, the dollar is better than your legacy. The dollar and the money right now, but what you do with the money and if you spend it the wrong way then what happens when the money runs out and you have no legacy?
"You are going to go around and tell people what you used to do and what kind of record you had. What record? And I tell them that. Whether it sticks or not, I keep it moving because I'm not going to be preaching to everybody who come and ask me for a cup of water because at the end of the day, who I trust, are my deeds and my actions.
Hopkins believes that the ultimate judges are the fans and that the types of fights they are looking to put together will be hits at the box office. The fans will be able to voice their opinions which will show in the ratings.
"When the fans get to see these fights that we are putting together, that is going to be our voice. When you have fights like Matthysse-Herrera, how much hype do you need for that fight? How much hype do you need for Cotto and Canelo? Of course press conferences are part of the business but how much hype do you need? Those fights sell themselves," Hopkins told BoxingScene.com.
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