Oscar De La Hoya is many things – a Hall of Fame fighter, a pugnacious promoter and a lightning rod for various controversies over the years – but “The Golden Boy” is nothing if not extremely online.
De La Hoya appeared on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Wednesday, a day before he is expected to post his semi-weekly “Clapback Thursday” video, a social media clip that amounts to an airing of personal and political grievances – often delivered with a twinkle in his eye rather than venom in his tongue.
Although De La Hoya touched on some of his favorite recent topics – including Vergil Ortiz Jnr, Zuffa and his feud with Dana White – the occasion of his visit seemed to be to discuss the new deal between his Golden Boy Promotions and the combat-sports-forward streaming app DAZN.
The agreement, announced Tuesday, extends a relationship between promoter and streamer that dates back to 2018. And despite the deal requiring protracted negotiations and contributing to the disgruntlement of Ortiz (and subsequent litigation against Golden Boy), De La Hoya was understandably excited to lock in a broadcast platform and start booking new dates for his fighters.
“It did take longer than expected, but we got something done, which is truly remarkable, because a lot was riding on the line,” De La Hoya told Helwani. “Fighters were calling, ‘Hey, is your deal done? Do we have dates?’ And so, finally, after months and months and months of negotiating, we finally have a deal.”
De La Hoya wouldn’t provide further details of the agreement, including its length, which he only alluded to, saying, “whether it's one-year deal or a 10-year deal.”
He claimed the new DAZN extension is “equal or better than” the previous two agreements with Golden Boy, and although De La Hoya was undoubtedly referring to financial terms, the deal is arguably a win for fight fans, too.
DAZN, which launched in 2018 as the purported answer to out-of-control boxing pay-per-view fees, has repeatedly raised its rates ever since – while also now positioning most of its biggest fights behind a PPV firewall. Viewers still figure to be stuck paying the going rate ($18.75 per month U.S. on an up-front subscription, or $44.99 for the Ultimate Package, which includes PPVs), but Tuesday’s deal should help facilitate getting more fights done.
Golden Boy joins a DAZN roster of promoters that includes, among others, Matchroom, Queensberry, Riyadh Season and now Top Rank, which struck its own agreement with the streamer only a week ago.
“I'm actually excited,” De La Hoya said of aligning with other promoters on the platform. “You know, I've worked with Bob Arum for many years, and we've done many fights together. I'm really excited because now, look, there's no excuse whatsoever from any promoter that's under DAZN.
“So it's going to be exciting to see what type of matchups we can make and what kind of hybrid events we could put together. Imagine our fighters fighting Top Rank fighters on the same cards and just cross-promoting. It's gonna be great for the sport. It's gonna be great for the fans. I'm really excited about that.”
Whether the Golden Boy-DAZN partnership can somehow salvage the Ortiz-Jaron Ennis fight that has stewed for months – and whose negotiations led to Ortiz’s falling out with his promoter – is anyone’s guess. Earlier this month, Golden Boy was granted a motion to compel arbitration, and Ortiz and his team were barred from negotiating with another promoter in the meantime. De La Hoya told Helwani that he is willing to consider reconciliation and “forgive” Ortiz, even if he can’t forget.
“If you want to talk, if you want to patch things up, then give me a call – or if you want me to call you, it doesn't matter,” De La Hoya said. “That's if you want to work this out. And let's work it out like grown men. You know, I still feel that he received the wrong advice, and now he's paying for it, which is sad, because me, as a fighter, I would hate to be sidelined. But when you do the wrong thing, this is what you get.”
