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05/16/2006 Archived Entry: "Meanings of Oscar De La Hoya"
Meanings of Oscar De La Hoya
By Tom Donelson
Courtesy of Boxing Press
When judging Oscar De La Hoya's place in boxing history, you have to view more than De La Hoya accomplishments in the ring. Oscar De La Hoya is a businessman who fights. And his Golden Boy Production is not just another promotion company but a serious challenge to the present power brokers.
Oscar has managed to take good looks and a golden smile to new heights. As a Mexican-American, he has cross over appeal among all ethnic groups. He has broken down barriers rarely talked about but now need to be recognized. He is attempting to do what has been a rarity in boxing-taking his skills in the ring and becoming a force outside the ring. Golden Boy Promotions is not just another promotion company but a refugee for fighters to challenge the status quo of boxing establishment. As a sport, Boxing rarely takes care of its' own and often many boxers find themselves on the street after their career.
Over the past several years, attempt to rectify this situation has often proved to be failure. Federal laws have done little to stem the tide and the attempts to unionize fighters are in their infancy and so far, have little to show. De La Hoya decided to go another route. He decided to become a promoter and signed his own group of fighters. Allied with boxing rebels such as Bernard Hopkins, De La Hoya is not just satisfied with working for someone else but have others work with him and for him.
While many are trying to guess De La Hoya next move, the reality is that his next move is already upon us. He worked with Don King on a equal basis to promote his own comeback with his recent fight with Mayorga and his victory now gives him leverage to further promote not just his career but his company as well.
Golden Boy Promotion has developed into a major promotion company, and using his past successes in the ring as well as his alliance with HBO; De La Hoya has now become a major force upon the boxing scene.
Oscar De La Hoya is positioned to take advantage on the Hispanic market, an important demographic for the future growth of boxing. Showtime Al Bernstein recently noted that nearly 25% of all champions from the 154-pound or lower are Mexican fighters. When you throw in other fighters from the Central and South America as well as American fighters with Hispanic background, boxing has a definite Latin-American twist to it.
While many pundits have observed the impact of European fighters upon the sport, the biggest impact may be coming from South of our border. Oscar De La Hoya opportunity has been to take advantage of this through his own promotions and De La Hoya has expanded upon his natural base to include many African-American fighters. His collaboration with Bernard Hopkins was the first step in expanding Golden Boy Productions in the boxing promotion game.
The true meaning of De La Hoya is not just the fact that he has been one of the most popular fighters over the past decade but that he has now become a boxing entrepreneur. Rarely has a great boxer translated his skills into being a great boxing businessman. While many boxers such as George Foreman have become successful businessmen outside of the ring; there have been very few cases where great boxers switched from being Hall of Fame fighters into Hall of Fame promoters. Others such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Roy Jones have attempted to follow Oscar into the promotion game and while both had their share of success, they have yet to match Oscar's.
Both Bob Arum and Don King are past the age of 70 and no other promoters have replaced these two men place in the present boxing hierarchy. Oscar De La Hoya is positioned to become a power base within the sport and De La Hoya is presently the most powerful Hispanic promoter. Which gives him a leg up on boxing most prized demographics.
