Oscar De La Hoya admits Dana White comment from Turki Alalshikh was 'offensive' after TKO boxing announcement
Yesterday at 05:20 PM
Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t thrilled to hear what Turki Alalshikh had to say after announcing his newest boxing venture last week.
The Saudi Arabian boxing supremo has signed up with UFC boss Dana White and the TKO Group to launch a new venture in the ring. It is expected that the pair will look to create a similar dominance over boxing to what UFC has on MMA.
This could mean freezing out current top promoters including De La Hoya and the likes of Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren. It all led to much uproar in the boxing community, with many major names unsure of their place going forward in the sport.
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Oscar De La Hoya hits back at Turki Alalshikh and Dana White
When the announcement was made that Dana White and Turki Alalshikh were launching TKO Boxing, it rubbed up a lot of boxing bosses the wrong way. White has not always been respectful of top names, including Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum.
Alalshikh said during a segment on The Ring Magazine’s YouTube that he “supports [White] with everything,” and that it it “his responsibility to deliver to people and fans the best model of boxing.”
This irked De La Hoya, who viewed it as White being “handed the reigns of boxing”. “That comment to me – I felt a little offended,” he told media in Los Angeles yesterday. “I've been in boxing all my life. I've been promoting for 20-something years.
"So what I want to do is stay in my lane and do what I do for Golden Boy and DAZN, and give the fight fans the best fights that can possibly be made, just like we've been doing for years.
“Working with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season and sprinkling these big, championship events, it's an honor for me to do that. But I have my business that I'm going to take care of, as well.
“And nobody's going to touch me there, because we are the best developers in the fight game and we take our fighters to championship levels and super-stardom, like we have with Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia."
Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya have strained relationship
For years, Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya have not seen eye-to-eye. The UFC boss regularly mocks the former world champion and has even branded him “Oscar De La Weirdo” for his erratic behavior away from the ring.
During the post-fight press conference for UFC 313 White was even asked about potentially sharing the stage with the likes of Arum or De La Hoya, to which he replied: “I mean, let’s hope not! I would never say never but that is not what I plan to do.”
It remains to be seen if White and Alalshikh will look to get rid of other promotions or work in tandem with them under the new league.
