Oscar De La Hoya has put out a short video in which he calls for “all promoters to come together.” De La Hoya, who was less than impressed with the “super-boring” Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo fight on Saturday, says that “if boxing is to survive, and thrive, we need super fights – all the time.”
As captured by Fight Hype, De La Hoya’s impassioned plea is an attempt to bring “rival” promoters such as Eddie Hearn, Al Haymon and others together.
Here’s what Oscar had to say:
“What’s up guys? Canelo-Charlo, super-boring fight. I mean, he just showed up for a pay cheque. Canelo, obviously, like I said, on quicksand, throwing bombs…..he won easy. But anyway, look, if we want boxing to survive, if we want boxing to thrive, we need super-fights, like all the time. Fighters must fight each other. We have to come together. Promoters – Eddie Hearn, Al Haymon, Bob Arum, whoever’s out there, let’s come together, I’m calling you out! Let’s come together, let’s meet……the power of the minds, and come up with something, because boxing can die. I’m calling you all out. Let’s do this.”
A great idea from De La Hoya, right? As well as being passionate with his words, De La Hoya does also come across as a guy who is genuinely worried for the future of the sport. It is true that genuine super-fights are less frequent these days, as it is true that the best against the best is a rarity today. What Oscar is basically saying is, put egos aside, promoters, work together, and give the fans what they are crying out for.
Who out there can possibly disagree with De La Hoya’s words, with his sentiments here? Heck, back in the day, even arch-rivals Don King and Bob Arum managed to put their differences aside and work together in order to make certain fights!
Surely, today, De La Hoya, Hearn, Arum, Haymon, and all the others can do the same? Bottom line, super-fights do need to happen, if not all the time, then certainly far more frequently than they are happening right now. The way to make this happen is simple, and De La Hoya has spelled it out.
But will Hearn, Arum, Haymon and the other promoters even react to De La Hoya “calling them out?”
