Oscar De La Hoya on feud with Dana White: 'Let's get in the ring'
Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya have been sparring in public.
Now De La Hoya wants to settle their beef like two guys in the fight game often do. In the ring.
White started feud with “cokehead” remark
The feud started when White went on a November rant against De La Hoya, calling the former boxer and fight promoter a “cokehead” and “Oscar De La Weirdo,” criticizing his Golden Boy Promotions production of a fight between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Lidell.
Lidell, 48 and a friend of White’s, suffered a brutal knockout in the fight. White contends he had no business in the cage to begin with.
De La Hoya: White doesn’t pay UFC fighters enough
De La Hoya responded by accusing White, the president of UFC, of underpaying his fighters during an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take.”
White responded on Wednesday to Yahoo Sports, calling De La Hoya a “liar” and a “phony.”
“The guy wants to come out and tell lies and say things that make no sense when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” White said. “He knows nothing about this sport. He doesn’t know the [expletive] guys’ names who are fighting on his card. He’s a liar. He’s a phony, and God help anybody who wants to go fight for Golden Boy.
De La Hoya: Let’s lace ’em up
De La Hoya, apparently tired of the verbal sparring, suggested the two lace up gloves and settle things in the ring in a Thursday interview with Sirius XM radio.
In a fight between @OscarDeLaHoya and @danawhite, who you got?
On air today with @lthomasnews, the Golden Boy challenged the UFC president to a fight next May.#TLTS pic.twitter.com/qvQPOQR3Iv
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) December 13, 2018
“Let’s get in the ring,” De La Hoya said. “Yeah, why not. Let’s get in the ring. Three rounds. Let’s do this. Let’s do this under Canelo, Cinco de Mayo.
“I’ll even give you five months so you can get off the juice. And then, we can get in great shape. And then we go three rounds. And look, I’m gonna give you what, a 50-pound advantage? It’s OK. I can take you on. Let’s do it.”
Before show host Luke Thomas could move the interview on, De La Hoya snuck in one last jab.
“Oh wait,” De La Hoya said. “He’s never laced up a glove in his life. Sorry about that.”
If only this fight could happen
So far, this feud has had everything but the actual fight. The pair’s back-and-forth in the media has all the makings of a great fight promotion, and an actual fight between the two might be a bigger draw than any Canelo Alvarez matchup on May 5.
Of course it’s also highly unrealistic. No responsible governing body would sanction the bout. De La Hoya, 45, is primarily a fight promoter at this stage of his career, but is also a former Olympic gold medalist and world champion boxer in six different weight classes.
White is a 49-year-old businessman with a purported boxing background and reputation for street fighting in his younger days, but zero professional fighting experience.
He’s also a guy who sees De La Hoya stepping onto his MMA turf.
And let’s face it. Even if a fight were to be sanctioned, White would never step into the ring. He would insist it take place on his terms in the Octagon.
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