Oscar De La Hoya is outwardly sanguine about his possibilities to do extra enterprise with one among his bitterest rivals within the business.
The Corridor of Fame fighter and head of Golden Boy usually has not had something a lot type to say about Al Haymon, the founding father of Premier Boxing Champions, however the two powerbrokers are at present collaborating on an upcoming battle within the spring that may see De La Hoya’s ace consumer Ryan Garcia within the ring towards Haymon’s personal in Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
And that matchup, which pits two of the most important names within the sport, may simply be the beginning of a extra significant partnership. In keeping with De La Hoya, he envisions extra “massive fights” involving Golden Boy and PBC down the road.
“What I’m very optimistic about is that [by] making this Ryan Garcia battle with Tank, we will begin working collectively and make the massive fights occur,” De La Hoya mentioned on The DAZN Boxing Present. “Think about PBC and Golden Boy getting collectively and simply making large fights, large, massive fights. The followers would eat it up, the followers would like it.”
Working example, De La Hoya thinks the Davis-Garcia battle may result in extra alternatives for his middleweight consumer Jaime Munguia, the previous 154-pound titlist that has been roundly criticized for taking over largely mushy touches prior to now a number of years.
“It’s a bit tough to make fights with him for some cause as a result of all of the fighters that he can battle are with PBC,” De La Hoya mentioned of Munguia.
Satirically, De La Hoya was in talks to have Munguia face PBC’s Jermall Charlo, the WBC middleweight titlist, final yr on a Showtime-produced primary occasion, however the battle went to bits after De La Hoya demanded, late in negotiations, that his community accomplice, DAZN, get entangled as nicely.
Davis-Garcia, alternatively, will contain a level of collaboration between networks. The cardboard is anticipated to be produced as a pay-per-view occasion on Showtime however shoppers may have an opportunity to buy the battle via DAZN.
De La Hoya’s conciliatory feedback could strike some as stunning for the reason that promoter routinely denounces Haymon, a former ally. De La Hoya has typically blamed Haymon for ruining boxing by not permitting his fighters to hunt fights exterior the PBC circuit; PBC has output offers with Showtime and Fox. In November, De La Hoya described Haymon as a “most cancers” in boxing.
De La Hoya raised some concern just lately after he threatened to maneuver on from Davis-Garcia if he didn’t obtain a contract from PBC. (De La Hoya subsequently obtained one just a few days later.)
Whereas each fighters and promoters agreed to phrases just a few months in the past, it isn’t clear when and the place their proposed battle will happen. Including to the uncertainty is that Davis should seem in courtroom subsequent month to face expenses linked to a hit-and-run incident in Baltimore in 2020. The end result of that listening to (i.e. if Davis faces jail time) may alter the timing of the battle.