Best Friends? De La Hoya Offers To Help White

Oscar De La Hoya and Dana White haven’t had the friendliest of relationships over the years.

For the most part, it’s been a pretty one-sided hurling of volatility from White toward the boxing legend. Consistently mentioning De La Hoya’s history of substance abuse whenever his name is mentioned to him, White and De La Hoya likely won’t be working together any time soon. But it wouldn’t be for a lack of effort from “The Golden Boy.”

“All power to Dana for trying,” De La Hoya told CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri. “What the Fertitta brothers and Dana did with UFC is incredible. Boxing is a fragmented sport. There are so many promoters, so many fighters who are with different promoters. So it’s really tough to consolidate the whole sport. But there’s always a way.”

White recently expressed the unlikelihood of him ever getting into the boxing world after never getting the concept of Zuffa Boxing off the ground. The only time White has had direct involvement with “the sweet science” was for the crossover mega-spectacle that pit Floyd Mayweather against Conor McGregor in Aug. 2017 (watch highlights).

Similar to White, De La Hoya has also only dabbled once into his fellow promoter’s world with a single mixed martial arts (MMA) event in Nov. 2018. But the less we talk about that, the better.

“I would gladly extend a helping hand or maybe even a partnership with Dana White and Golden Boy Promotions,” De La Hoya said. “I’m actually extending the the the olive branch here and maybe even working together. Boxing is not easy to deal with but there is a way. When I started Golden Boy Promotions, I believe 21 years ago now, it wasn’t easy and it’s not easy now. But there’s a formula on how to work with fighters, managers, promoters, and networks. So if Dana, if you’re still interested, I’m more than happy to discuss, to talk on how we can possibly consolidate or fix this sport once and for all.”