Oscar De La Hoya's open letter to fans to not support the UFC/WWE-fication of boxing

[Paradigm]

Oscar's just worried he's going to have to movie his Sept 17 Canelo/GGG date.

They doing a documentary on the Canelo/GGG fight or something?

 

[Son of Sonnen]

Stopped reading at Conor is certainly the best p4p MMA fighter in the world.

 

[tasticles]

Yeah connor may is what nick diaz would call wold tickets.
However, osvar de la hoya is the guy who put ronda on the cover of a boxing magazine " she conquered mma, is boxing next?".
Also oscar is a transvestite; e.g. a shady character who changes depending that what the situation

It's taking blow away from oscar, so that's why he's pissed off about it.

 

[Okajima]

Oscar is supporting his golden boy to fight Triple G. That's not just about the money. That's for the sport.

Fight should have happened at least a year ago.

 

[Paynebringer]

To my fellow #boxing fans:

I write in the hopes that together we can protect the sport of boxing.

With each passing day, it looks more and more likely that the circus known as Floyd Mayweather Vs. Conor McGregor will be coming to town in the near future.

As undercard fights start to take form, athletic commissions give their blessings in exchange for millions of dollars and the fighters start counting even more cash, one group will eventually be left to make sure this farce doesn’t occur.

We, the fans, who are the lifeblood of our sport.

Boxing is starting to dig out of the hole that Floyd and Manny Pacquiao shoveled by waiting seven years to put on a fight that ended up being as dull as it was anti-climactic.

2017 has started off as a banner year for boxing. Joshua vs. Klitschko; Thurman vs. Garcia; Golovkin vs. Jacobs; Canelo vs. Chavez. All four of these fights – and many more -- have brought the fight game back and reinvigorated interest from the ever-elusive casual fan.

But if you thought Mayweather/Pacquiao was a black eye for our sport – a matchup between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters that simply didn’t deliver -- just wait until the best boxer of a generation dismantles someone who has never boxed competitively at any level – amateur or professional.

Our sport might not ever recover.

I fully understand the initial attraction from any fan of combat sports. McGregor is almost certainly the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter. Floyd is Floyd — the most dominant boxer of his time.

But success in one sport does not guarantee success in another. Far from it. And let’s be clear, these are two different sports -- from the size of the gloves fighters wear, to the size and shape of the ring, to the fact the one sport allows combatants to use their legs to strike.

Think about it, beyond Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, what other athlete has successfully competed in two sports in the modern age? And Jackson and Sanders both played both baseball and football throughout their high school and college careers before going professional.

Furthermore, it’s not like McGregor would be fighting a good fighter, let alone a mediocre one. He would be fighting the best. To use a bit of an extreme analogy, I happen to be a pretty good golfer. Could I potentially hold my own on one of the second-tier tours? Maybe. But would I be able to compete with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith or Sergio Garcia? Of course not. Nor would I think to try.

Now, I know critics will say that I’m only writing this letter because my company is promoting what will be the culmination of an outstanding boxing year when Canelo Alvarez takes on Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in September, and I don’t want anything to distract attention away from that fight.

But my interest is in the health of boxing as a whole. It always has been. And if Floyd were to come out of retirement to take on someone like Keith “One–time” Thurman, Errol Spence or some other top welterweight, not only would I applaud the fight, I’d be the first one on line for a ticket.

That kind of fight is what the fans – and I am a fan first -- deserve.

Which brings me back to the circus.

Floyd’s and Conor’s motivation is clear. It’s money. In fact, they don’t even pretend it’s not. But it’s also a lack of consequences for when the fight ends up being the disaster that is predicted. After this fight, neither of them will need us anymore. Floyd will go back to retirement -- presumably for good this time with another nine-figure paycheck -- and Conor will go back to the UFC.

It’s a win-win for them. It’s a lose-lose for us. We’ll be $100 lighter and we will have squandered another opportunity to bring boxing back to its rightful place as the sport of kings.

At this point, only we can shut the circus down by making it clear that we won’t pay to see a joke of a fight and telling our casual-fan friends that they shouldn’t either.

Sincerely,

Oscar


--------

Let's face it. The McGregor era of UFC is the WWE era of MMA. It's all about trash talk, fight matches based on storylines than merit, and PPV sells. The most recent UFC press conference kicking off the summer fights was so cringeworthy bad. Guys throwing punches, guys with double digit losses talking shit and calling themselves killers, guys just saying shit for crowd reaction. Everybody wants to be Conor McGregor, but it's WWE that has clearly influenced McGregor with his Ric Flair-like antics, cutting promos, and walking like Vince McMahon. Now this VIRUS is attempting to spill into boxing. I agree with the golden boy here. Do not support this bull shit.

Some points made along with sour grapes, that his promotion is not the taking part of this potential winfall (if) this really happens.

 

[The Great Macsby]

I didnt notice you were gone, actually...

Sherdog shares hit an all time low in my absence. So bad that they had to decrease the mods pay...

Kidding. As if they deserve a salary. (maybe Drake because of the Q&A)

 

[Wanderlei Industries]

Why can't they do a mixed rules fight? Aoki got knocked the fuck out by a crossdresser in a mixed rules fight. It's a thing.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

I agree with Oscar but I still want to see it.
This will not hurt boxing at all win lose or draw. Unless Connor takes an excessive beating and dies in the ring.
Trash talking has always been apart of boxing. Some guys are just louder and get more attention for it.


And as far as Ric flair, I wish there was an MMA guy that was exactly like Ric flair. That would be awesome!

Geez dude don't even say that.

 

[BOTTICELLI]

true dat

 

[Aegon Spengler]

"I wrestled an alligator

Done tussled a whale

Handcuffed lightning and thrown thunder in jail


You know I'm bad

I murdered a stone, injured a rock and hospitalized a brick

I'm so mean I make medicine sick"

--- The greatest boxing legend of any era made up poems like this before his fights and people said he disgraced the sport and made a joke out of it etc etc

That same guy fought what was basically a tough man fight against professional wrestler Antonio Inoki in Japan

Now he's known as the best ever and is held up on the highest pedestal...

I think Conor and Floyd putting on a show together is pretty well in line with the spirit of boxing history

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Of course he is going to say that. Mayweather productions is his rival.

 

[tmsxl]

Lol this coming from the guy who charged 70 bucks to watch Canelo tee off on a punching for bag for 12 rounds.

 

[JohnWick]

I'll pay to watch GGG vs Cinnamon, I'll stream Mayweather vs Mcgregor.

 

[daniel san]

I think it's a win-win for both MMA and boxing. The more people that watch your sport, the more fighters will earn and the more casuals you'll attract who might become hardcore fans. Mayweather-McGregor is a spectacle, a freak show, but it's going to be entertaining (perhaps Mayweather's first entertaining fight in many years).

 

[Italian Brock]

Oscar shouldn't be complaining about other people only in it for the money.

Oscar is just jealous that he isn't getting a piece of that lol haters going to hate

 

[Bubblun]

Oscar bitching and whining only make me more interested in this fight, can't wait.

By the way, nobody forces you to buy a ticket, nobody forces you to be 100$ lighter if you don't want to see it.

 

[mmacasualviewer]

Carlos Slim/ Little Marco De La Hoya & Jeb Arum are triggered Boston Strong Dana White & young African-American entrepreneur Floyd Mayweather are encroaching on their business.

People talk about Mighty Mouse not selling fights.

Oscar De La Hoya begs Donald Trump to watch 2 manlets fight eachother.

 

[Rea_ctor]

Two guys want to throw down, so no fuck off Oscar I'll do what I want, boxing has been dying for years a good start to one year doesn't mean it's back.

 

[BryanTheFighter]

translation: I wont make any money from it

But if he wanted to make money from this kind of boxing fight, matching 2 fighter from 2 different combat sports, he could, very easy.
But he is not so damn scrupulous and disrespectful to the sport of boxing.

 

[Usssssyyyy]

Count me in Oscar. That farce won't see a dime from me.

Nor me. Boycott this shit.