Oscar De La Hoya & Eddie Hearn: Face Off

Oscar De La Hoya and Eddie Hearn sit down with Chris Mannix to talk all things boxing, with the two promoters discussing the business as a whole and how big fights, just like Devin Haney against Ryan Garcia, are now able to be made.

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all right Oscar De La Hoya Eddie Hearn two of the most influential people in boxing who came together friends now made a big fight between Hae mongia and John Ryder see that wasn’t so hard right making not at all co-promotion no big deal well that’s what it’s all about um first of all thank you thank you for sitting down and uh you know it it really is a pleasure that we can kind of break bread and and just make sure that we have the best fights for the fans Eddie uh making co-promotional deals uh how do you feel about them great I mean I think that the problem is actually me and Oscar probably have a similar issue in that we’re very outspoken and we do probably rub people up the wrong way sometimes and the problem in boxing is some people once you do that will act off emotion rather than actually in the best interest of the fighter or the sport I said about Bob arum the other day I think actually you could burn Bob aram’s house down and he would still do a deal with you that evening if the if it was the right deal you know what I mean and he’s very good at that because I’ve seen Bob come up to me cuddle me and literally 10 yards away in an interview ruined me you know and I’m I’m okay with that either I think I’ve learned over the years that particularly in America sometimes they don’t quite get our sarcasm and you know so but I do think there’s a movement now where people are willing to work more and I think it really comes down to the networks I think the the sharing of fights as we’ve seen with ESPN lately and done Zone makes it so much easier because we should be doing much more we have a very open relationship with Eric and those guys where if a fight makes sense and it still has to make sense we’re not just you know phoning each other up every day saying oh come on like like monar Rider great fight makes sense for everybody but there should be no barriers to particularly us on the same network but I do feel in boxing now now with that opening up of of the platforms it is easier to make fights but it’s all down to personal relationships and you know when there is peace I think it is good for the sport Oscar to Eddie’s point when you’re trying to make a fight happen is it challenging to separate the personal from the professional because you guys do have cameras in your face all the time at these events and sometimes things do get said well it’s like Eddie said the the fight has to make sense and I’ve been promoting now for 22 years um you know and the reason why we’ve been successful is because we make the right fights and the right fights at the right time and if Eddie has fights if Eddie has Fighters that make sense to us to Golden Boy then we’re more than happy to we’re open to making this happen on the Zone we share the same platform we uh we we should be working together more often we should be the leaders of of of of of boxing and and and show the world that that we want to make the great fights for the fans that’s the bottom line but ultimately with my experience the fight has to make sense well Eddie the uh the Zone just announced in Saudi Arabia you’re going to see matro versus Queensbury five on five why not matchroom versus golden I think you I said it yesterday I mean look we our relationship is much better than mat’s relationship with greensbury I mean to think like I’ve been promoting for 13 years I’ve never met or spoken to Frank Warren in 13 years which is actually quite I mean like it’s really not good for this the reality is is not the Rivalry is good because it keeps us hungry like we’re on the same platform we get on I still want to outperform Golden Boy he still wants to beat mat and that he’s a competitor and I do have to say I do have to say uh to that respect I did come out swinging in the beginning I do have to say that I saw TW the Rivalry and this but that’s okay I don’t fine for me look we’re trying to build the profile of everything the profile of our Fighters the the profile of the Zone my profile and when I got someone like Oscar having a pop at me I never mind that like it’s it’s actually positive in a way as long as we can just understand it’s a game you know if I come back and fire at Oscar as long as he goes right yeah know it’s you know you you have a smile on your face with Queensbury you know if if myself and Frank Warren could make a card and it was done you know with his Excellency and and you know the the power and the financial power of of Saudi Arabia but you know once we broke bread as we said actually it’s quite enjoyable you know there’s almost like a feeling between ourselves and Queensbury like why didn’t we do this earlier and you know there has been situations in the past I mean Oscar just did it with PBC where he did Ryan against tank look how much money that made for everybody that was a a situation where coming together made sense it should be easier for us I still think it’s difficult with other promoters certain promoters and certain platforms because they don’t want to share in my opinion as much as we do some of them but as people lose deals as people have to serve as Fighters sure you know we’ve all got obligations dozens of fires so we need to keep them active yeah and and and you you mentioned Eddie making that fight with PBC Ryan Garcia was not easy at all it was very very difficult but when you make it happen and you fight for your partner the way we did we fought for the zone to be part of that of that promotion and what happens you get the biggest fight of the year uh for boxing so so platforms have to come together promoters have to come together and Fighters are willing to fight each other that’s that’s the message that we send as promoters you know Fighters are willing to fight each other let’s just come together and make this happen I I find one of the biggest obstacles is the managers and the advisers what I mean because you you’re an xfire you know the fighters want the fights we want the fights I think one of the one of the biggest sort of incorrect perception from fans and people is that promoters stop the fights we want the biggest fights one because the biggest fights make us money but two we we don’t want to sit Ringside at a fight knowing actually like the one of the worst feelings I ever have is going to my own average show do what I mean I don’t want to go to a show and go can’t believe we had to pay this guy X and he’s in a one-sided fight you know why because we got talked into it sure to doing it those for me that’s the main focus of our business now is to stop is the is to say no and if we have to lose a fighter on Route because we’re not delivering the best product for our broadcaster we have to be prepared to do it that that’s one of the biggest challenges you know like and boxing is a unique sport where anybody there’s no barriers to enter you could be dealing with a manager who has absolutely no experience of boxing absolutely no experience of how to guide a fighter and you you’re locked in a tussle trying to deliver for the Zone trying to make the right fight for your business trying to make the right of his career it’s not easy and I think we all have to as promoters sometimes say no and say no that’s not that’s not a fight we’re prepared to do and you know sometimes you hang on to a fighter because it’s like ego you don’t want to let him go you know it’s just like and we’ve started to say to Fighters look you know we think maybe you should look elsewhere because that’s not a fight that’s going to deliver value if we don’t deliver value for Doone and our subscribers you know we we’re not doing right job Oscar what do you think of I mean you’ve been an influential figure in boxing for more than 30 years going back to your the Olympics in 1992 what do you think of the state of boxing today where it is now compared to where it was when you were first coming up well the problem the problem now is that the big fights are not getting made um to to Eddie’s Point um you know we have to come together that’s the bottom line whether it’s managers whether it’s um it’s promoters Fighters want to fight each other you know know Fighters yes are are thinking more about the money they’re thinking more about the bottom line which makes it a little more difficult because sometimes they don’t understand the economics of of of of the fight of the actual fight um you know they have all these Whispers in their ears and so it’s really difficult for a promoter or for a network to to make this fight happen but over the years I’ve noticed um now that for inance I’ve worked with Al hayon I’ve worked with Eddie Hearn I’ve worked with everyone Bob arum all the promoters out there and when when you work together it’s like having various platforms promoting a pay-per-view there’s more numbers there’s more pay-per-view buys it can only get better for the sport for the actual fight so what I see different now is that promoters are yeah willing to work together with with the right fight but back in the day promoters would never work together and therefore boxing is better today I believe than it was in the past you’re creating these Mega fights now we just did 1 two3 million homes with Ryan Garcia and tank Davis there’s Mega fights we can do together that can surpass that um do you really believe that because boxing I mean you were a mainstream star in your fighting days I don’t know how many mainstream stars there are in boxing today and that’s what’s I think is needed to do the kind of numbers you’re talking about well the Olympics was a big part um I was I was part of the 1992 Olympic Games NBC televised it globally you won a gold medal you became an instant star So that obviously helped me a lot but um I I strongly feel that when you have the right talent and you’re bringing him up the right way um you can create stars um you just have to make make sure you have the right opponents the right marketing the right platform I mean the Zone has been incredible um Eddie Hearn has been doing a great job a great job promoting these Fighters and making sure that boxing is is is alive and in the UK what you’ve done is phenomenal you know I I would love to go to the UK and do some work there the way he’s doing work here in the US um it can only help boxing and so I I just I just feel that as long as we can come together the platforms the promoters the managers uh there’s there’s no there’s no reason why we should be bigger than bigger than life I think all Eddie heard was you did a Eddie does a phenomenal job I think that’s all he heard that was the bit where he said come to the UK I was like no but what he said was really interesting like one thing that frustrates me so much is understanding the economics that’s one thing and I think what Oscar would have done coming through as a lot of big Fighters Anthony Joshua is another good example Canelo Alvarez they they understand the economics of a show like where we get to now is sometimes you’ll sit down with a fighter and and and the value of a purse for them might be $4 million they think they should be getting 10 or 15 sure it’s so transparent the way you do a big fight there’s no hidden numbers you know the gate is open for all to see the pay-per-view number all the revenue is open for all to see the costs are open for all to see so we know the numbers the actual numbers but boxing is a unique business where sometimes someone will come along you know could be a promoter willing to make a charge could be a mad investor could be Saudi Arabia could be a new platform and they will pay that number you what I mean but for us as a business that’s that’s sometimes the most frustrating point is you sit down with two fighters Ryan against Deon you know and Devon could say I want X and Ryan says I want X and you look at the show and go without sharing in the upside you can’t get there guys okay TI fima great example you know and he’s got his numbers and like like Oscar said voices in the a of people that don’t know the numbers and it’s only a balance sheet it’s not rocket on you know and as I’m sitting down here I’m thinking you know what you get it you understand the numbers you understand the economic of of what a fight can generate of what what the actual real numbers are but you have somebody who disrupts you disrupts the business and maybe it’s a one-off maybe it’s uh they’re here for a short period of time we’re in this for the long run I’m in this for I want to be like Bob and and retire and retire well not like Bob but his his age I was thinking yeah I want to be as old as he is and still promoting but obviously doing the right thing and the right thing is right here I think that we know the numbers we understand the e ecomic so it’s easier to do business but when somebody comes in and disrupts the market and the fighters see that and then Fighters get the whispers in the ears then it’s it’s difficult for promoters like us to to Really nail down a fight that we want to make because the numbers are you must have experienced that in your career I mean you know you were in all the biggest fights you you would have gone in looked at a fight and gone my number for that fight is X sure you what I mean and sometimes the piece of paper that was presented to you shows that actually it’s the wrong number but still your number you’re entitled to it sure I mean you know and that that’s you have to almost like a fight a fighter is going to give you the number sure sometimes a fighter will say to me I don’t care what that says this is my number it’s like well you have to care what that that that that you know but the fighter is the fighter and you know I’m sure you had occasions where your promoter said this is the person someone said to you no actually I think you know this is a tough fight you should be getting this and I’m sure you got it I know what you’re talking about Eddie and Bob Oscar and Bob got along all the time never met whatever to is you I want to ask you though about Saudi Arabia because they do represent the disruption there’s no question it’s been a net positive because big fights are being made what we had with the Day of Reckoning in December AJ and ganu bble better beev down the line big fights are getting done because of investment from Saudi Arabia how do you Bal you’ve been doing business there for a little while now how do you balance that and work that into a yearly schedule okay so the first thing is I hate the you’re taking boxing away from the UK and from America there there’s this thing it’s called the world right and Saudi Arabia sits in it our plan along with the zone is global expansion so if there is money coming into the sport from a new region we need to embrace that if that money is enabling us to see the fights that keep boxing great even better but we must still focus on other markets and particularly our domestic markets although we’re making a move in America our domestic Market is really the UK Oscars is America whatever fights go to Saudi Arabia great but we must maintain a strong schedule and a strong presence in our domestic markets and that’s a focus for us moving forward forward and and another problem which you know we talked about with the fighters is that number that the fighter might want M can be achievable in Saudi Arabia so sometimes the fighter will wait or the they’ll be told There’s an opportunity there or they might get the reality is not many will because it’s it’s only going to be you know five six shows a year whatever it’s going to be but fights like bivol better beer that can get made instantly I don’t think that fight would have got made without Saudi Arabia yri usk wouldn’t have got made without Saudi Arabia so we have to embrace it because we can’t deny the fighters the opportunity and seeing the growth there firsthand is quite amazing to be honest with you as a country and you know you’re you’re dealing with a guy in his Excellency who is just the biggest fight fan you’ve seen he knows our stable from British Champions to unified world champions and the vision that they have when you sit down you go for a fight card you talk about being excited to go to a show I mean I’ve never seen anything like it but we must focus our mind this is not a oh let’s all go and set up an office in Riad and just IM immigrate the business this is embrace the investment and the opportunity for boxing but maintain the strength in our core markets particularly our domestic territories yeah no I totally agree I think um your Excellency has disrupted the market but has been doing a phenomenal job in uh in making the big fights happen I I strongly feel we haven’t done business with them just yet but it’s not an issue but what what I have a concern of is I’m I’m in the business to to create a star right the way I’ve handled Canelo the way I’ve handled Ryan uh the way I promoted Mayweather’s 15 fights and Pacquiao and you the list goes on and on and on what I’m seeing is okay how can I create a star so it starts in America it start because or in Las Vegas because in Las Vegas and and and and a good friend of of of yours Bob arum once told me once you have once you start the fire in Vegas then the Wildfire just spreads around the world and I believe that I strongly believe that so if we can find a way where your Excellency or or uh Riad can time the event perfectly where it can be shown here on a Saturday night we can somehow do that we’re okay because it is prime time in the UK this that’s where it’s and and I think he’s right you know the one of the issues with um Fury and garu is it came in at 300 p.m. eastern time that’s not that’s not a time zone time zone going to generate a significant I would have loved to know the numbers what what what they did here in America I’m I’m pretty sure that they were not that good but if it was at the peak moment the peak time in the US 8:00 pm Pacific um it would have done massive crazy numbers promoting it see my my issue is that yes let’s let’s spend more marketing dollars in the US for those oversee fights and I think I think America will embrace it there’s a there’s a there’s a formula there’s a system there’s a timing um that’s worked for us um and and I think I think that yes boxing is global and and your Excellency is doing an amazing phenomenal job it’s it’s it’s just the timing that we have to get right uh before I finish uh sanctioning bodies you were at a campfire with Mauricio sulaman recently and some of the promoters out there Oscar you’ve been dealing with sanctioning bodies going all the way back to your days sure as a fighter uh when I talk to Casual boxing fans one of the most confusing things they they find is who’s a champion what does this title mean why what’s a secondary there’s just so much jumbled stuff out there when it comes to sanctioning bodies where do you guys stand on what their role should be and quite frankly should they be phased out by the influential people in the sport look I mean my my opinion about the sanctioning bodies um yes I’ve been dealing with them forever um as a fighter and as a promoter Fighters funded them for years of course yeah right exactly but fighters fighter love being Champions Fighters love being Champions I I loved holding my belt when I won a World title but I didn’t love paying the sanctioning fee um the WBC WBO ibf and WBA yes they’ve done a great job in in making Champions and in and in crowning a champion okay with the hard work that the fighter does and the promoter and the managers uh everybody involved but a lot of times when you have four belts the consumer the public gets confused uh they they they they they’re not interested in who who’s fighting who because the belt is involved we have to again find a way a happy medium somewhere to make sure that the fight fan is not discouraged by these organizations because every single day their rules are changing every single time and it’s very very confusing look I stick and I stand by the ring belt that’s it yes I own it and I’m going to say it but I do not get involved whatsoever there’s a board of writers who are who are professional who know what they’re doing who who rank the fighters and in order to win the championship belt you do it in the ring and in order to lose the championship belt it happens in the ring and guess what there’s no sanctioning fees no whatsoever so if you take a look at those ratings there’s no confusion whatsoever like you dealt with bam and sunny you dealt with the Ring magazine belt for for a minute there yeah but I think the problem is is you have to have rules in in every organization but you also have to have the ability to act with common sense and the problem is is we we can talk about a governing body but depending on the situation we can love them hate them so when you’ve got a champion in a governing body and you’ve got a mandatory that quite frankly means absolutely nothing to the broadcast to the fans or the sport and you’re getting told you have to fight him that’s a moment where you go I can’t stand these governing bodies now if you’ve got that mandatory Contender of course you’re saying come on you have to apply your rules so there just has to be a common sense I mean one of the you know we we talk about tank against Ryan don’t forget there was no belt on the line that was actually the first time time that a pay-per-view of that size hasn’t been an Undisputed Championship or unified World Championship so I think that every fighter you know we have to have that conversation every fight you know whether it’s Anthony Joshua or Canelo when he worked with him or you know vice versa and you know oh just to let you know here’s the invoice which comes very quickly from from the governing body normally on a Thursday before the fight this is what you’re paying you know and if there’s no cap which a couple of governing bodies don’t have and it’s 3% and it’s 3% million you know you’re paying $1.5 million time 4 in an Undisputed fight paying $6 million and there will come Oscar’s so right about Fighters ling a Bel you know we’ve always talked about oh do you move away from the governing body you would have to go to your stable to the fighter saying are you okay with never fighting for the WBC WBO they’ll be like sure oh no every Fighter’s dream but when they get to a level you know I mean but some of them even like Canelo good example where he wants the belts on the line like he he could easily fight with no belts on the line yeah but he does want the team car the Legacy the Undisputed and and like like Oscar did it as well as a fighter so I I think is it the is it the money is it the rules is it just like you know you got situations like GTI the other day that just don’t make sense but it is also a difficult job for the governing bodies don’t forget they’ve got me phoning them all the time Oscar phon him all the time Bob PBC you Mo this fighter down why isn’t he mandatory why are you calling this why are you doing that so you know but also although it’s confusing to the fight fan I I still I still think the glory of a world championship Bel I mean it’s not that confusing but I I Echo I don’t own the Ring magazine belt but I do Echo the Beauty and the power of it and I tell you something now to a fighter the Ring magazine belt is everything it’s it’s the it’s the one that tells you but it tells you it’s the you’re the one you’re the one the division that’s it that and the fighters you know the rules the rules haven’t changed in more than 100 years like literally the rule is the rule I mean I believe you had a uh you had a situation with Bam um I don’t know too much of it because I don’t get involved yeah they follow the rules but they follow the rules there’s no you can’t nobody nobody can come to me and say well here’s $100 million can you change the ru I cannot change the rules it would be impossible I could do that for you I mean it helps that I have $100 million I’m okay too but you know but you’re right but it’s you cannot change the rules right it’s it’s it’s but I do think there there is integ you know but there is integrity in the Ring magazine and I need that Integrity to stay in place yeah I I agree with that I do think sometimes though the common sense rule I mean that was a very unique situation with bam and Sonny like but I didn’t you know I said to the ring committee I don’t mind being told no I can I can disagree with you but I respect it sure like they didn’t they didn’t fold over and you know some might say well it’s only a magazine what does it matter they still stood up to us and said sorry guys we had someone on the panel didn’t agree no and everyone went what that’s no if it’s fine we’re big boys that’s okay there’s still some integ Integrity in boxing so yeah which I love well Eddie Oscar good to see you guys in the same room together hopefully the first time of many in 24 absolutely absolutely love it thanks buddy