Oscar De La Hoya is presenting a united front with fellow promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani on his eponymous Ariel Helwani Show filmed from De La Hoya’s house, the former fighter and current Golden Boy Promotions head said that he didn’t take the new Zuffa Boxing venture seriously and that he would focus on “real boxing.”
De La Hoya implied his position early in the interview while talking about junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz, his most successful fighter. The fighters and their promoters have dangled a superfight between Ortiz and Jaron “Boots” Ennis before fans’ eyes for 2026. De La Hoya emphasized that he wanted the fight to be in the United States, and that it would be good for the health of American boxing.
He then made his stance clear: “The fact that a new entity is coming into boxing and already wants to change a bill that has been in place for decades, that protects fighters, to me is shady.”
The law in question is the Muhammad Ali Act, which Zuffa Boxing’s backers – including UFC head Dana White – want to alter. Critics believe this would reduce fighter protections and allow White to subject boxing to the UFC model, in which fighters are often underpaid.
“If you’re a person trying to do right in the sport, you don’t eliminate the bill that’s protecting the fighter. The fighter is the product. Without that clause there, the fighter is vulnerable,” De La Hoya said.
The former six-weight world champion also has a bone to pick with how he believes Zuffa will approach matchmaking. De La Hoya thinks prospects should be guided carefully at first, then let loose to fight the best available opponents, even several times in a row. (He criticized Ennis’ choice of Uisma Lima as an opponent for this reason.)
“I don’t really see it as competition. I’m a serious promoter,” De La Hoya said. “I’m a promoter who’s gonna promote and develop world champions from the start. I’m gonna identify prospects, and I’m gonna build them just the way I built Canelo, just the way I built Ryan Garcia, just the way I’m building all my champions now: step by step. I’m not gonna get them beat and eliminated right off the bat. This is more like a reality show, a game show or something. I don’t really see it as real boxing and competition.”
He added that “I’m just gonna stick to my lane, just like Eddie Hearn, Top Rank, and Frank Warren are doing. We’re gonna stick to our lane and promote what we know best.”
Hearn has clashed with White in recent days; De La Hoya siding with the Matchroom Boxing head is an alliance that did not always seem on the cards given their rivalry. De La Hoya dismissed his history of squabbles with Hearn as “fun and games.”
A crucial figure in this fractured promotional landscape is Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian powerbroker whose deep pockets have enabled many marquee matchups in the last couple years. Alalshikh has partnered with White in the Zuffa venture but has also worked with Hearn and De La Hoya, from whom he purchased The Ring magazine.
“I know Turki, and Turki loves traditional boxing. Turki loves watching the best fight the best when they’re developed,” De La Hoya said.
This is perhaps not entirely true, given that Alalshikh arranged a fight between heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole, who promptly derailed Anderson’s development by knocking him out in the fifth round. Bob Arum, who promotes Anderson under the Top Rank banner, has said he thinks the test came too early.
“I like Turki, because he understands [the appeal of] the best vs. the best, and I like that,” De La Hoya said. “But what he must understand is to get to that level, you must develop fighters, and that’s what we do best.”
De La Hoya also said he has faith Top Rank will find a new TV partner, and that “we need them.” Zuffa Boxing plans to have its fighters compete for a single belt and to disregard the sanctioning bodies entirely, but De La Hoya is doubtful that the sanctioning bodies and their long history will be cast aside so easily.
“The way I see it is, boxing and fighters are fine just the way we are.”
