The Breakfast Club: Oscar De La Hoya
Oscar De La Hoya talks Canelo-GGG, Mayweather-McGregor.
Well, you know it’s plug season when Oscar De La Hoya shows up on the ‘world’s most dangerous morning show.’ This morning De La Hoya joined Power 105’s The Breakfast Club to chat with Angela Yee, DJ Envy, and Uncle Charla about the big upcoming fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin — and also to talk about his disdain for Mayweather McGregor.
Check out some excerpts below with the full video interview above...
De La Hoya on the difficulty of promoting a big fight between two fighters who don’t speak English:
“Umm, yeah, Triple G speaks it all broken up and Canelo can understand it but...it’s tough. But, um, the great thing is that these guys can fight so that’s what carries the whole promotion, is that, you know, everybody knows that these guys are gonna throw down and bombs away.
On real boxing fans knowing that this is a great fight but casual fans, not so much:
“I mean look, in terms of, because everybody likes talking about the business side of boxing now [Editors Note: That’s shade thrown at Mayweather], um, in terms of business, it’s gonna do a huge amount of business. I mean, that’s a given. But the fact that this is a real fight, hopefully the week of the fight will carry on because yeah, the momentum is building. You know, you’ve got everybody from all the CNNs and the ESPNs and the whole world interested in this fight, so we just have to get that momentum going and get these guys to speak English.”
On tweeting out ‘F*ck You’ to Mayweather-McGregor:
“I did...it’s a disrespect to boxing. I mean boxing, look, boxing is — and my man Bernard Hopkins would say this in a heartbeat — boxing is old school. Boxing is boxing where you have two guys who are not gonna carry each other to the 10th round. I mean like, for instance, Mayweather, ok, Mayweather is probably the purest best boxer on the planet today. Right? I mean now he’s retired but in our generation...
“So you have him carrying McGregor for four or five rounds, right, so he can go he can go 10 rounds and collect his money in the sports book — I mean it’s no secret that Mayweather bet on himself in the 10th round, I mean, we all know that, right?”
On the bookies not actually allowing Floyd to place that bet:
“They didn’t let him. Of course it’s not [legal]. I mean it’s Vegas, I don’t know, maybe it is, I don’t know, but it’s like you’re fighting a UFC guy, ok, and Mayweather doesn’t throw a punch for four rounds?! I mean, come on! The best fighter on the planet and doesn’t throw punches for four rounds?! I mean what does that tell you? Come on.
“...for me it was just a farce. It was a face. But anyways, Canelo-GGG, it’s a real fight! It’s just a real fight! I mean that’s the bottom line and I call it ‘six to eight rounds of hell.’ I’m gonna call it ‘six to eight rounds of hell,’ it’s gonna be a bloodbath.”
On the Canelo-GGG fight itself:
“Canelo is the better boxer, he learned a lot when he lost against Mayweather back in the day [Editor’s note: More Mayweather shade]. He’s grown as a fighter, he’s maturing as a fighter. It’s just gonna be a good fight, man.
“...it could go either way. I think Triple G can knockout Canelo, not at any given point, but if he lands that big power punch he can knock him out. And same with Canelo, if he lands that big power punch it’s goodnight for Triple G.”
On if how he knew becoming a promoter was a good move for him after being a fighter for so long:
“That’s what I know best man: boxing. Boxing and selling. Making good fights, that’s what it’s all about. Look, for me fighting is what I know best, I started when I was four years old, you know, it got me my 10 world titles, gold medal, all that stuff. So it’s my obligation, it’s my job to keep the integrity of boxing alive, you know, and by making these types of fights that’s all you can do, is make sure to put the best against the best. That’s all I can do.
“I mean I’m hoping this fight is such a great fight — I mean that both guys drop each other, that both guys, you know, it’s a close fight and then we can make another one! Why not? That’s what boxing needs right now.”
On what actually made him want to be a promoter, though:
“I was fighting this kid, Ike Quartey, um, I think he was from Africa, from Ghana, and he was a tough, tough son of a...I mean this guy was tough! And he hit me with everything, he dropped me twice and I think I dropped him three times, I needed the last round to win and I finally won but I couldn’t walk for like two weeks afterwards, you know, because I was so sore and it was painful.
“And right then and there I said to myself ‘I need something to do after boxing’ and so what can I do? I said, you know, let me become a promoter and help these young guys out to establish their own careers.”
On how to get the general public excited about boxing again:
“Just make the best fights happen, man. That’s it. That’s it. I mean this fight here with Canelo-GGG, and Daniel Jacobs in the mix as well as a middleweight, then you have other middleweights that are up-and-coming, if we can have a round robin of all these guys fight each other, you know, and create some good fights, you know, you could start something. But, uh, in boxing, for instance, before myself it was Mike Tyson. Before Mike Tyson it was Muhammad Ali. After me it was Floyd. And then you had Pacquiao.
“So it’s like a roller coaster in boxing, you only have like one guy or two guys at the most carrying the sport of boxing. So right now we’re in a transition stage...there’s some awesome guys out there, they just have to fight each other...”
On the infatuation with ‘undefeated’ fighters:
“I’m not for it when you don’t challenge the very best. Because if you’re gonna challenge the very best, you eventually have to lose. You eventually have to lose! If you’re challenging the very best at the right time, you eventually have to lose. It happened to Tyson...
“...it’s like this fight here with Triple G and Canelo, I mean obviously somebody’s gonna lose, somebody’s gonna get knocked out, it might be Triple G and he’s undefeated. Because finally he’s stepping up to fight the very best [Editor’s note: Seriously, Oscar?]
On people blaming him on holding the fight up for a couple years:
“Yeah, no, look, Canelo wasn’t a middleweight. He wasn’t a middleweight. He was fighting at welterweight, he was fighting at junior middleweight. He’s finally a middleweight right now. So, I mean, just because a few people are gonna tell me ‘why didn’t you face Triple G when Canelo was a welterweight?’ I’m not gonna do that. I have to wait for Canelo to fill-in and be strong and then he can fight the very best at the middleweight division.”
On the fishnets:
“Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, just a bad time in my life. That’s it. That happened, what, 10 years ago, you know, and [the pictures] are still popping up but that’s the power of the social media.”
On if it was hard to be taken seriously as a promoter after that:
“No, we’re the best promoter in the world today, so it has nothing to do with it, it just has something to do with my personal life at that time, which was 10 years ago, so obviously in America you have the opportunity to rise and shine and get better and be better and so, uh, that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
On if he hates Floyd Mayweather:
“No, not at all. I respect him as an athlete...I respect him as a fighter. I think he’s, like I said, one of the best that’s laced up the gloves in the history of the sport. I just don’t like what he’s done in his personal life. That’s it.
“I mean, we all know his past, I don’t like that stuff [regarding domestic violence]. You know, it’s just my cup of tea. I mean who would?”
On Floyd being able to say that Oscar’s had his own personal problems:
“Yeah but I would never hit women.
“...and by the way, I would never attacking anybody personally. You know, I would never do it. I mean I would never ever do it. That’s just my personal thing...you have to be responsible to your sport and look, whoever attacks me personally, I mean, so be it — it is what it is.”
On the craziest thing he’s ever bought with all the money he’s made during his career:
“...there were a few man, back in the day, goddamn there were a few. But I didn’t go too crazy with my money...I was pretty frugal at the time...I have a crazy house — that’s where I live, you know, but that’s about it. I wasn’t too crazy...”