Bob Arum on Oscar De La Hoya: He’s ‘One of the Stupidest Guys I’ve Ever Met’
So Oscar De La Hoya exited the ring for a career in promotions and created Golden Boy which has taken off. The promotional company represents a high percentage of the best fighters in the world and they’re responsible for putting on some of the best events we watch.
Before Golden Boy existed, Bob Arum and Don King used to be the only real competition when it came to promoting top fighters. Now, De La Hoya’s gang seems to scoop them up. Given that background you know that anything rival promoter Bob Arum says about Golden Boy comes out of bitterness and anger. So take the following quote served up to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel lightly with a chuckle.
“[Golden Boy has] no background in boxing,” Arum told the paper. “They rely on Oscar, who’s a dummy. Oscar is one of the stupidest guys I’ve ever met. I’m just saying what it is. The guy is really not smart. Forget just ‘not smart.’ He’s not just even average.”
Like I said, it’s complete bitterness from Arum, but the smack was so strong we had to share. Keep in mind that Arum will say just about anything to make himself and his people look good.
We’ve already explained why these comments shouldn’t matter to you because of their rivalry, but I will point out that De La Hoya is pretty darn smart because he took advantage of a major hole in the marketplace — promoters boxers could trust. And I’d say that the hundreds of millions Oscar has taken home proves he has an excellent business sense.
