Boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya has reignited his long-standing feud with UFC boss Dana White by criticizing TKO’s upcoming boxing league.
The Golden Boy Promotions chief didn’t hold back in his assessment of White’s latest venture into the boxing realm, questioning everything from the reported pay structure to White’s business acumen.
“Speaking of scumbags, everyone has been asking me for my opinion and thoughts on Dana White attempting to enter the boxing space, again,” De La Hoya began in his Instagram video. “You can’t run a boxing organization when you don’t have any fighters. And right now, TKO and Dana have zero fighters.”
De La Hoya’s comments come after TKO Group, the UFC’s parent company, announced earlier this year a partnership with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh to create a new boxing league. The venture aims to match top talents and eventually render traditional boxing sanctioning bodies like the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF obsolete.
But what particularly drew De La Hoya’s ire was the leaked pay structure reportedly being offered to fighters. According to reports, championship bouts would pay challengers $375,000 and champions $750,000, while unranked fighters would make just $20,000 for 10-round contests.
“If these are real, holy sh*t! Dana’s gonna have several problems,” De La Hoya exclaimed. “No fighter’s going to fight for these pennies. The majority of their prospects will fight one or two times a year and be forced to survive on minimum pay.”
The former champion also expressed skepticism about top-tier boxers accepting such terms: “No pay-per-view fighter will fight for $750,000. You’re telling me the Canellos and the Ryans of this world are going to agree to this kind of pay cut?”
In a point sure to resonate with many UFC athletes, De La Hoya suggested the disparity between UFC and boxing pay could cause internal conflict: “If these numbers are real, the UFC fighters will be so pissed. The TKO boxers will be getting paid so much more than they are. UFC fighters are already disgusted with how little they get paid for putting their lives on the line.”
Alalshikh has previously dismissed reports about the pay structure as inaccurate. In a March statement on social media, he launched a counterattack against journalist Garry Jonas: “This article is not factually accurate. I think Garry Jonas should focus on his business in Florida because he doesn’t want the FTC to call him again.”
De La Hoya also referenced White’s previous unsuccessful forays into new ventures, saying, “When Dana doesn’t have the funding and the business brains already in place, like the Fertittas or Turki, he always fails.”
Despite the harsh words, the boxing promoter surprisingly left the door open for potential collaboration: “Will I work with Dana in the future if he’s in the boxing space? Sure! Because 80% of the folks I deal with in boxing are scumbags anyway!”
With TKO Boxing reportedly targeting major matchups involving stars like Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia, the industry will be watching closely to see if White’s latest boxing venture can succeed where previous attempts have faltered.
“I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing,” De La Hoya concluded, “and I will continue making the best fights on DAZN. Remember folks, you’re never a hater when you only speak the facts.”
