Boxing and business champ Oscar De La Hoya says his toughest fight took place outside the ring
After capturing gold during the 1992 Summer Olympics, boxer Oscar De La Hoya earned the nickname “Golden Boy.” The moniker has served the 10-time world champ well ever since — so much so that in 2002, he founded Golden Boy Promotions, a boxing and mixed martial arts promotion firm in Los Angeles. The now-retired boxing legend stopped by Yahoo Finance’s “On The Move” to talk business, boxing, and his toughest fight.
De La Hoya’s acumen outside of the ring has proved just as sharp as his in-ring skills. Golden Boy Promotions quickly became one of the dominant forces in all of boxing, representing some of the biggest names and matches in the sport, including his 2007 bout against Floyd Mayweather and two action-packed clashes between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and "Triple G" Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin.
Most recently, De La Hoya has partnered with DAZN — a popular European sports OTT streaming network that came to the U.S. in 2018 and is now run by former ESPN president John Skipper, who has helped the network disrupt the way Americans watch sports.
“DAZN is making waves and opening doors for fighters. It’s letting consumers know that they don’t have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to watch one fight. You can now watch over 100 events a year and pay just $99 a year,” De La Hoya said. “It’s great for business; it’s great to the consumer, and it’s great for the fighter.”
Today, Golden Boy has arguably the biggest star in the boxing world — Alvarez — in its ranks, as the result of one of the richest deals in sports history, signing the multi-time world champ with DAZN in 2018. The five-year, 11-fight deal is worth $365 million.
On Nov. 2, Alvarez will move up two weight classes to face light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. As someone who’s won titles in 6 different divisions, De La Hoya has some concerns.
“I didn’t recommend it, moving up two weight classes. He has to move up 15 pounds — that’s a lot of power and a lot of speed a lot of strategies that come into play. It’s not going to be easy; it’s going to be a difficult fight. But this is why DAZN is working — it’s bringing the biggest fights to consumers.”
Toughest battle
De La Hoya knows personally that some of life’s toughest battles are fought outside the ring. In 1992, he lost his mother to breast cancer. Today De La Hoya serves as an ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s “Real Men Wear Pink” campaign.
“My mother passed away from cancer right before I won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. I was 17 years old; my mom was only 39 years old. So when the American Cancer Society approached me, it was a no brainer — I had to get involved.”
“We want to create awareness and tell men directly: ‘It’s ok to wear pink for a great cause. We have to step up because this dreaded disease is affecting millions of people directly and indirectly,’” he said. “This is the toughest fight I will ever be in.”
Reggie Wade is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ReggieWade.
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