The collective eyebrows of the combat sports world raised at the news that former champion turned boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya would be making a comeback in the ring at the age of 47.
Oscar hasn’t fought since he was unilaterally beaten by Manny Pacquiao in 2008 which ended happily in the 8th round with his corner throwing in the towel. Prior to this fight, he’s gone 8-5 in the current millennia, and his slide was about what you’d expect watching a fighter lose his speed in the ring to get old. So if he was too slow to hang on to the top at 36 when he retired, why would he come back thinking he’s faster at 47?
UFC President Dana White has a theory.
“Cocaine isn’t cheap,” White joked after his UFC event on ESPN 15 on Saturday night. ” It’s expensive. I have to earn some money.
White and De La Hoya have been on bad terms since Oscar attempted to organize a boycott among boxing purists of the Mayweather fight against McGregor in 2017, calling it a circus that would destroy the integrity of boxing (a claim that still makes me roll my eyes until now. in my head I can see my brain). An extra ton of salt was poured on things in 2018 when De La Hoya pulled White’s boyfriend Chuck Liddell out of retirement to fight Tito Ortiz for the third time. White had retired Chuck in 2009 saying, “I care about him. I care about his health, and it’s over, man. It’s finish. “
Not only did Oscar give the still-competitive Ortiz a busted Liddell, but he promoted his foray into “Golden Boy MMA” as an opportunity for fighters to ultimately make a fair share of the pay-per-view income. We’re sure White loved seeing Oscar on SportsCenter bring in the pathetic 18% gross that goes into fighters’ pockets. Sadly, “a big corporation is exploiting workers” (er, independent contractors) is not really relevant these days, so these attacks, like the Liddell-Ortiz 3 PPV, have received little interest.
That hasn’t stopped Dana and Oscar from continuing to hit the press at every opportunity. We mark this round 10-8 Dana.
