Bob Arum calls Oscar De la Hoya’s wide-sweeping comments “pathetic”
Within twelve hours of Golden Boy CEO Oscar De la Hoya saying he wants to unify boxing under one promotional company – his own – Top Rank chief Bob Arum has snapped back with base-level insults.
De la Hoya told Ben Grossman of Broadcasting and Cable recently the “Don Kings and Bob Arums” have had a chokehold on boxing the last forty years and that he wishes to change that, and the way the sport is run altogether.
Golden Boy wants to “sign all the talent,” buy out all contractual dates with broadcasting companies, schedule weekly events, and abolish multiple sanctioning bodies. Achieving all of this in the boxing world would amount to a boxing revolution of epic
proportions.
"There's one word to describe Oscar, and his commentary, and that's pathetic,” Arum said. “I mean, this guy is really so dumb. Anybody that pays any attention to what he says has to be stupid. That's all that I have to say about it. I mean, I'm not going
to give a rebuttal to it. It's preposterous. What do you do, get angry at it? He's just simply pathetic. That's my critique on this, that it's pathetic."
In the last few weeks respect between the companies has reached an all-time low, with Golden Boy filing a lawsuit against Top Rank for racketeering and fraud on September 21. They seek payments to the tune of $3 to $5-million for three Manny Pacquiao fights
financially managed by Top Rank. Due to a ruling in 2007, Golden Boy is entitled to a percentage of Top Rank’s earnings on Pacquiao fights.
As well, De la Hoya recently speculated on the status of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as a free agent. Chavez Jr.’s contract recently expired with Top Rank, and De la Hoya expressed interest as well as said that Chavez had contacted them. Arum fumed at the comments,
saying that the “Golden Boy” was tampering with his fighter.
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