LOS ANGELES – Golden Boy Promotions chairman Oscar De La Hoya and Premier Boxing Champions head Al Haymon have had an icy relationship for better parts of the last decade.
De La Hoya once sued Haymon in 2015 seeking $300 million alleging Haymon repeatedly violated antitrust laws and the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
A federal judge dismissed De La Hoya’s monopoly lawsuit in 2017, but by then, high-profiled boxers who were once promoted by Golden Boy had already aligned with PBC.
Chief among them were the likes of current or former world champions and Haymon-managed fighters like Errol Spence Jr., Deontay Wilder, Danny Garcia, Adrien Broner, Keith Thurman, and Leo Santa Cruz, among others.
Many potential high-profile fights involving Golden Boy and PBC have never been staged due to the conflicting promotional and network affiliations.
That notion took a turn for the positive recently when Golden Boy and PBC agreed to stage the April 22 fight pitting together Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Golden Boy and Garcia, however, had to agree to “B” side treatment and concede to several contractual demands from Team Tank.
Despite the lengthy and drawn-out negotiation process, De La Hoya is optimistic that he and Haymon can stage more super fights moving forward.
“I would love to [work with PBC moving forward to make the other big fights happen]. I would love it,” De La Hoya told krikya360.com in an interview. “I would love to speak to Al Haymon. I would love to make fights happen. This can open the door to making Jaime Munguia versus Jermall Charlo. This can open the doors to making Errol Spence Jr. versus Vergil Ortiz Jr. It can be huge. This is the door. This is the open door to make big fights happen.”
When De La Hoya was asked if the framework has now been established between Golden Boy and PBC to move forward with making mega fights, De La Hoya said "absolutely. Why not? It's all for boxing."
As De La Hoya finished his statement on the red carpet of the Davis-Garcia press gathering at The Beverly Hilton, Mayweather Promotions CEO and Haymon confidant Leonard Ellerbe stepped right next to De La Hoya, and with a smile, said, "you gotta be nice though."
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.