Club Shay Shay - Oscar De La Hoya Part 1

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

Oscar De La Hoya sits down with Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a conversation that explores the multifaceted layers of his life, career and boxing. Oscar reflects on his illustrious boxing legacy, emphasizing that while his achievements in the ring are significant, they do not entirely define him. He ranks himself among the greats of his generation but remains humble, placing himself second to last, just ahead of Canelo Álvarez.Oscar delves into his iconic bout with Floyd Mayweather, expressing his conviction that he won the fight in spirit, if not by decision. He praises Floyd's unique qualities, including his intelligence and ring generalship, and credits Floyd Sr. as the best trainer he ever had. Oscar explains why the Floyd vs Manny Pacquiao fight would've been better five years earlier than it happened and revisits his fight against Pacquiao, revealing the profound personal struggles he faced at the time, which made him feel as though he wanted to die during the fight.Get 50% off your first box of fresh, healthy food at TheFarmers Dog.com/SHAYSHAY#VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite, Moneyball, The Blind Side, and Liar's Poker. On the latest season of my podcast, Against the Rules, I'm exploring what it means to be a sports fan in America

and what the rise of sports betting is doing to our teams, our states, and ourselves. Join me and listen to Against the Rules on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search Against the Rules. Listen to Against the Rules on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Can't get enough football? Look no further than the Good Morning Football podcast. can't get enough football look no further than the good morning football podcast join me jamie erdahl alongside peter schrager kyle brant and akbar bajabiamila for a daily breakdown of the league's biggest stories hey you want to know the secret ingredient that makes patrick mahomes unstoppable or maybe which reality show best describes the jets season look no further we've

got recaps retweets and reactions to all the wild moments you might have missed both on and off the field make sure to listen to the good morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. What's going on with you and Dana? You guys were cool. Just because I wanted to start a little competition, he gets all, oh, let me scream louder. When a guy slaps his wife in public, when his mom writes a book about him saying that he's a douche that's all i have to say all my life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle paid the price wanna slice got the roll of dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life

all my life been grinding allrifice, hustle paid the price Wanna slice, got the rollin' dice That's why, all my life, I've been grindin' all my life Hello, welcome to another episode of Club Shea Shea I am your host, Shannon Sharpe I'm also the proprietor of Club Shea Shea The guy that's stopping by for a conversation and a drink today Is one of the most popular boxers of all time

He had a 16 year professional boxing career The guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today is one of the most popular boxers of all time. He had a 16-year professional boxing career. He won 10 world titles. He's the first boxer in history to win titles in six different weight classes. He won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. He's a Grammy-nominated singer. He once accumulated the largest pay-per-view draw ever. He generated over 700 million in pay-per-view buys. An icon, a legend,

a champion, an international boxing hall of famer, an accomplished entrepreneur. He's the first American of Mexican descent to own a national boxing promotional company. He founded the highly successful, highly successful Golden Boy Promotion. He has a statue in front of Staples, now it's Crip.com Arena. He's from East Los Angeles. Here he is, the Golden Boy, it's crypt uh crypt.com arena he's from east los angeles here he is the golden boy oscar de la joya thank you for that intro that was great that was amazing i think uh i think you have a future career uh announcing me everywhere i go now so let me when when you hear what you've been able to accomplish and and people because everywhere you go, everybody knows who you are. You're world renowned. Do you look back and like, damn, I really did all that.

The first to win titles in six different weight classes. Right. I literally do have to remind myself quite a bit, actually. I don't think about it. I don't I'm the type of person that i just live my life okay you know i i i have a job at hand in front of me i focus on that i focus on you know uh my beautiful partner i focus on myself my business it's like i don't think about like what i accomplish right but when i do talk about it when you didn't introduce me i was like oh snap man damn i did

accomplish quite a few things right because when you hear them introduce me i was like oh snap man damn i did accomplish quite a few things right because when you hear them talk about all these other boxers obviously we're going to talk about floyd but you hear about ray linder you hear about marvin haggler rest your soul you hear about a lot manny packy out eight division champ if i'm not mistaken the only the only when you hear and people start talking about they're like hold on wait a minute now did y'all forget about the golden boy do Do y'all remember what I've done? I don't really tell myself that or I really don't focus on what everybody else is talking about or who they're talking about. Like I accomplished.

You've done it. Quite a few things. I'm proud of it. I realize it. I recognize it. And it's so be it. Right. You know, now I'm proud of it. I realize it. I recognize it. And it's so be it. You know, now I'm just me. Now I'm just focused on, you know, just living the life that I should be living and deserve to be living. And, you know, just being happy and doing some good business, promoting the right fights, building fighters.

So, yeah, it's but yeah, it is it is. Sometimes I do have to pinch myself a bit and remind myself of what I accomplished. It's pretty cool. Well, it wouldn't be Club Che Che if we didn't ask you to rank some of these fighters. So where would we put Oscar De La Hoya if we said Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr., Canelo Alvarez?

Who else would belong in that, in your generation? I mentioned Canelo. Okay. Trinidad. Trinidad. Tito. Perna Whitaker. Sweet Pea. Yeah, we had all of them. We had all the greats. I would rank myself second to last. Really? Yeah, in front of Canelo why would you put Canelo last because he's not better than any other fighter you just mentioned right and he's certainly not better than me right but here's the thing though. You look at what he's done. 160, 168, light, heavy.

What is he? Four division? He's a four division? Three division. Three division? So what, 60, 68, 75? Yeah. And so you got, obviously, you got Floyd. Floyd goes without saying. You got Manny Pacquiao, who's an eight division champ. You got Bernard Hopkins.

160, 168, 175. Roy. Roy was untouchable for about a decade. Roy was untouchable. Amazing. So you're like, okay, where would you put, okay, rank. I tell you, this is how we're going to do it. Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr.

Rank those guys. Well, I fought three of those guys that you just mentioned, and they all beat me. So the key here is that I fought them, and I was willing to fight them, and I fought them in order to make history, right? Which fighters don't do nowadays. No, they just don't.

They wait until you get older. I was waiting for myself to get older to fight those guys in their prime. Right. So, except for Bernard Hopkins, I was 48 years old when I fought him. But he's a machine, you know. But you had moved up. You moved to 160 to fight him. I moved up to 160 and fight him to make history.

That's what it's all about. So I think, look, Floyd is a great fighter, obviously. He's undefeated. Everybody can make an argument. Well, he's not the best. Yes, he is the best. Everybody has their opinion, and that's fine. That's okay.

You look at their records. Okay, well, maybe with this guy, he lost. Maybe it was controversial. Maybe it was a close fight. Everybody has those on their records. I have three losses that I can't debate. With Pacquiao because he stopped me. With Hopkins because he stopped me. And probably, who else? Shane Mosley, the first one. Right. Which was an epic fight at the Staples Center, now Crypto Arena. So those fights there, I cannot debate with anybody that I lost.

But the other fights, yeah, they're debatable. You can make the argument just like every other fighter that you just mentioned now on the list. Every fighter has their debatable losses and wins. Are they great? Yes. Are they the very, very best?

Who knows? It's a debate. Let me ask you this. I've heard you on several occasions say you feel that you beat Floyd in that fight. Sure. Obviously, that might have been one of the last fights that I've been to. I was at that fight. Okay. Why do you feel you won that fight?

You know, when you're a fighter inside the ring, when that final bell rings, you know it in your heart, in your gut. If, and physically, if you won or you lost,

you just feel it. It's a sensation. And I just felt it. Right. You know, whether I was wrong or whether I'm right, I don't care. It doesn't matter. I fought against the very best in Floyd Mayweather. Younger, in his prime, just, you know, undefeated.

And I was over the hill, tons of injuries so i was pretty proud with with what i accomplished that night so maybe i was convincing myself that i won but i did feel it physically and mentally that i did enough to uh because i was the champion in that fight right so remember you have to beat the champion to take his title, to take his title. So you take all those variables. And I felt that, you know, OK, maybe let me convince myself that I won that fight. Right. Do do you feel because it looked like to me you started out flurry like the first five or six rounds. Yeah, it was you.

And then all of a sudden you started to tire. You started to come on. Did you feel that you have done enough early? You started to tire. He started to come on. Oh, yeah, yeah. Did you feel that you had done enough early? And because he didn't stop you, he didn't put you down, that you had had enough points up until that point.

Yeah, it's a 12-round fight. Correct. And, you know, as an elite fighter, you're always keeping track of what you're doing every second, every minute. Okay, I have this round in the bag. I have this one, this one. Wait, that's maybe six or seven. Let me cruise.

Let me, if I get injuries just the way I did during the fight, because I had torn rotator cuffs. Oh, you tore your rotator cuff in that fight? Two of them. No, I... Going into the fight. Going into the fight. Okay.

But, you know, you start thinking, okay, wait, if I just cruise here and land a few punches, I got the first fight the first half won already so maybe if i just win one more round i can win the fight seven five right maybe a draw so you start thinking that right and that that can be a mistake or it can be a plus and obviously that night for me it was a big mistake i should have just went out there and just give it my all down on your shield yeah the days are warmer the walks are longer and one easy way to help your dog shine this season is with fresh healthy food from farmer's dog farmer's dogs makes fresh real

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slash SheaShea to get 50% off. That's FarmersDog.com slash SheaShea. What makes Floyd so unique? Because he fought Pacquiao, he fought you, he fought Gotti, he fought Corrales, he fought Ricky Hatton. He's fought so many. And all these guys, a lot of these guys had titles at the time or were former world champions like yourself. What makes him so unique? His pedigree. Look, I'm good friends with his father.

The best trainer I've ever had. Wow. By far. He is, well, except for the professor who trained me for the Chavez fight when I beat Chavez in 1996. But Floyd Sr. is the best trainer I've ever had. He's a teacher. And that's what Floyd 1996. But Floyd Sr. is the best trainer I've ever had. He's a teacher. And that's what Floyd Jr. grew up with.

He grew up with a teacher who disciplined him to be the very, very best. And I love his patience. I love the fact that he's a hard hitter and he has a chin. See, people discredit him for not having a chin. He has a chin and he has a big heart. chin. See, people discredit him for not having a chin. He has a chin and he has a big heart. So I think that what makes him unique is obviously his boxing ability, but his ring generalship is what does it for me. He knows how to pick his spots. He knows how to get you tired without even throwing punches. It's crazy. I mean, I can figure this out, but that's who Floyd is and

that's what made him great. But people say, well, he don't have any knockouts. He doesn't have power. Oh, he has power. He has power. He has power. I mean, he didn't hurt me, but he has power. He has a lot of power. I have a good chin.

Pacquiao didn't hurt me. Right. Bernard didn't hurt me. I mean, he caught me with that body shot. Right. I have a good chin, but Floyd does have power. But if you look at Floyd at the lighter weight class, he was stopping people. It wasn't until he got to 147, 154, and then his hands.

He had to be careful with his hands because the last thing you want to do is throw a shot, break a hand, and then all of a sudden you've got to fight the next 10, 11 rounds with a broken hand. Well, I think what happened with Floyd is, and this is where he played it smart. You know, you have to give credit where credit is due. Floyd, after he beat me, if you notice, he became Money Mayweather. Yes. Well, he became a businessman. Yes. So then now, okay, let me have, you know, my career, you know, the longevity of my career. I'm going to extend it as long as possible. I'm not going to get hit. I'm going to throw punches and pick and choose so my career can last longer and make more money. Right. Very smart. Had Floyd been around in the 80s and he had to fight Hagler, he had to fight Leonard.

He had to fight Hearns. He had to fight Barkley or, you know, just just say some of those. He had to fight Barkley or, you know, just say some of those guys. Sure, sure. Durant. Durant. You know, how would he have fared with those? Because all those guys, those guys had dynamite. Sugar Ray was a lot harder punching than people give him credit for. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. And he had a heart of a lion. How would Floyd would have fared? Now, I'm not saying he'd probably go up there because Floyd is a small man. And that's what makes it he was so great because he's not having to drop 20 30 pounds to make 147 He's probably walking around at 150 to tie his entire life. Yeah, he's a professional. Yes, you know, he knows how to he knows how to stay lean yes and stay active and and always in the gym and and you know and and fighters and kids who want to become champions should emulate exactly what Floyd did inside the ring inside the gym and and you know and and fighters and kids who want to become champions should emulate

exactly what floyd did inside the ring inside the gym and you asked me the question about the 80s and the the the four kings right yes duran and hearns and haggler and linner um it would have been quite interesting i i would have i would have probably called it the Five Kings. He's that worthy of fighting those guys and making great fights. Everybody had their own unique style. Duran was a beast. Yes. Hagler was a beast. Yes.

Sugar Ray Leonard was a beast. I mean, Hearns. And either one had their own attributes, whether it was a right hand from Hearns, punches and bunches from Duran who would just eat you alive and Sugar Ray Leonard just had it all right so I don't know it's it's hard to say whether he would have won or lost but I think being in the mix would have made it just I mean that much more exciting because back then as you said after he fought you he became more of a businessman but back then there was no you had to fight. You know, if you go back and look at the 70s and 80s with the heavyweight, Norton had to fight Ali.

Ali had to fight Frazier. Frazier had to fight Foreman. Foreman had to fight so forth, so forth and so on. Yes. And so there was no situation. There was no business. And he came along at the great time. Right. Not to discredit him because he's historically he's transcendently great but in that era there was no businessman like floyd turned out to be during that era so he had to fight well look what what people don't understand and know or maybe forget i promoted floyd's 16 fights roughly, when we were building him. He was under Golden Boy Promotions, and obviously I own Golden Boy Promotions.

Was that after Top Rank? That was right after Top Rank. And so we got him the Ricky Hand fight. We positioned him to fight Juan Manuel Marquez, Canelo, who actually I told Canelo, do not fight Floyd because you're too young. You have no experience. Well, but he's a much bigger man. No, he is. But he's 21 years old, flexing his muscles like I can take on Floyd. I'm the very best.

Guess what? You got schooled. You got schooled. Pitched a shutout. Exactly. I mean, very best. Guess what? You got schooled. You got schooled. Pitched the shutout. Exactly. I mean, it wasn't even close. So my point is, Floyd played his cards right. If there was

ever a winner in Las Vegas, it's Floyd. It's Floyd. Let me ask you a question. Why didn't you guys have a rematch? You and Floyd. Why didn't we have a rematch? Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps,

and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now.

This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite, Moneyball, The Blind Side, and Liar's Poker. On every season of my podcast, Against the Rules, I take a broad look at various characters in American life. The referee, the coach, the expert. My next season's all about fans and what the rise of sports betting is doing to them, to the teams, and even to my family. I'm heading to Las Vegas and New Jersey and beyond to understand America's newest form of legalized gambling. Listen to Against the Rules on the iHeartRadio app,

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Or maybe which reality show best describes the Jets season? Look no further. We bring you everything, all the games, all the matchup previews, our impeccable predictions. Get your football fix right here on the GMFB podcast. We've got recaps, retweets, and reactions to all the wild moments you might have missed both on and off the field.

We bring it like nobody else, straight from the stores. Whether you're a football fanatic or you just enjoy a good laugh, make sure to listen to the Good Morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's something that the world doesn't know and I'm going to actually say it now. We had a rematch for a year contractually. Guess what Floyd did? He retired for a year and one day. Let the contract expire, and I was asked out.

That's it. Had you had the rematch, do you feel you could have avenged what happened earlier? No, no. My body was breaking down. My body was Was over it. That was that was the final. Yeah, that was the last straw. It was I felt it in the Seventh eighth round where my cuz my jab is my weapon Yeah, that's I mean I throw my jab and nobody can beat me right and I just yeah

I just couldn't throw it and so it was over my body was breaking down i fought pacquiao and uh i was a dead man walking i i walked inside the ring and i was my legs were shaking and i was like please just knock me out just stop me right here really oh yeah oh yeah well if you ask if you know your body is breaking down you know you're not the fighter that you once were why take a fight with pacquiao when you know he's a dangerous man? Because I dare to be great. I always dare to be great. You already had that, Oscar.

I want some more. You and Floyd fought on, if I'm not mistaken, it was Cinco de Mayo weekend. Cinco de Mayo, yeah. When you saw him come out there with his Mexican gear on, what were you thinking? I was thinking with the hats on backwards and he's put it on right right you know no it was appropriate I was just thinking at that time man I want to knock his ass out right you know right because I'm a competitor but then you think because

I'm a businessman too I started Golden Boy Promotions way before I even finished fighting. Correct. So I was already thinking, wow, what a genius. That's a great marketing tool there. And sure enough, sure enough, Floyd was built to be the villain. Floyd was built with his opponents that we put in front of him, you know, from Miguel Cotto to, you know, to everybody. He was the villain. And in a movie, you need the hero and the villain. And Floyd was the perfect villain. You know, people love to hate him. And guess what?

He made a whole career about it. And he's one of the greatest. Do you think people tune in to watch greatness or tune in to watch him lose? A lot of people tuned in to watch him lose. But a lot of people also tuned in to watch him lose? A lot of people tuned in to watch him lose, but a lot of people also tuned in to watch greatness. Do people do... I know the purest, like yourself, people that's been around the boxing game,

the fight game for an extended period of time, they understand who he is. But do you think the casual, the lay person, realize how great he is? I don't think so. I don't think so. What't think so it's it's it's what happens what happens is that we don't realize how wonderful of a person that individual is or what great of an athlete that person is until there may be past or until it's until they're old

you know we don't realize we don't we don't We don't tend to do the research, you know, and study the careers and label him as a great one. Or, you know, it's just, yeah, it's till the end, obviously. And I think that Floyd Mayweather is just a great, great fighter. He is. He's one of the best. obviously and and i i think that floyd mayweather is just a great great fighter he's he he is he's one of the best i think the thing that what makes him so unique is that he didn't hang on too long a lot of the great fighters yeah they hang on too long they fight these young lions and then they and then it somehow one or two losses diminish the greatness that we saw for over a decade. Employed never succumbed to that.

Right, which is smart, which is great. I mean, he didn't get hit much in his career, in the amateurs, in the pros. And he did it smart. He played it smart. And that's what it's all about. It is, the business is great, you know, but it wasn't my cup of tea. My cup of tea was you fight everybody in their prime, in their peak. You fight against the best, and guess what?

The chances are of losing are pretty great because you're fighting other great fighters. And that was my position. That was my mentality going into every single fight i i signed for um you know with floyd you can make you can make the argument well okay this guy was he should have fought him two years prior he should have fought him earlier maybe he caught him when he was older you can make the argument but at the end of the day when you watch the skills inside the ring it's uh it's just different yeah it's undeniable had you had because you had floyd senior where's your trainer up until you got ready to fight fight floyd if i'm not mistaken correct had you had senior in your corner fighting junior do you think you win

that fight knock him out i'll knock him out i would knock him out. I would knock him out. Really? Absolutely. If I was one year younger and had senior in my corner, I would knock him out. Really? Senior was that good of a trainer. You have that much confidence in your ability. You would have done something that no man, I mean, he, I mean, I've only seen Floyd take really maybe a handful of solid punches. Sure. And you feel you were going to be able to put together a package to knock Floyd out. Absolutely. And you know what the key was?

And the key is to that style? It's a jab. Opens up all the doors. When my jab failed me, it was over. I knew it. In my heart, in my head, I knew it was over. Floyd was coming after me because he closes the show. He knows how to reserve his energies and his gas tank to close the show at the end. And I'll tell you a story that nobody knows. We were negotiating to fight Floyd again after the contract expired.

And I started negotiating with Floyd's father to train me to beat his son, he wanted too much money. And I just said, you know what? Aside from the money, okay, I understand that. It's a lot of money that I have to pay you, so I'm going to pass. But aside from that, morally, I think, I just thought it was wrong, you know,

his father being in this corner, because I think at the time they were having a little, I just thought it was wrong. You know, his father being in this corner. Because I think at the time they were having a little, you know, some little issue, you know, because it happens in every family. It happens in every family. So I said, you know what? No, I can't do this. I cannot do this to to a family who has been in the business for a very long time. I don't know how many generations. His uncle fought Roger.

His uncle, Roger. His, I think his other uncle, Jeff, who I fought. So yeah, I mean, boxing runs in their blood. And so I just couldn't do that to them. And we didn't make the fight. Pacquiao, Mayweather. What would have been different had they fought, let's just say five years earlier? Because everybody believed they wanted that fight.

We had been clamoring for that fight for five, ten years. Had they fought five years earlier, is the outcome any different? Let's just say it would have probably been a controversial decision. Okay. You know, like a closer fight. But I still think that Floyd Brydie probably would have pulled it off. I really do think so. Pacquiao at the time when he was coming up, when I fought him, he was literally a Pac-Man.

Right. He was just chomping at me like there's no tomorrow. Right. He wouldn't stop. He wouldn't stop throwing punches. That Pacquiao probably gives Mayweather a better fight. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if he wins, but he gives him a better fight. Right. Yeah. And so you feel this fight happened a couple of years. A little too late.

You know, you want to see you want to see a back and forth and you want to see, you know, evenly matched on paper. you know, evenly matched on paper. When we saw it live, yeah, I mean, as a fighter myself, I know exactly what's going on with the fighters, mentally and physically, and Pacquiao wasn't the same. And you can make the argument for Floyd as well. Right. You know, at their peak,

I still think that Floyd would have won the fight. When you fought Pacquiao, I think they stopped the fight in the eighth round. I didn't come out for the ninth. You didn't come out. You're right. You didn't come out. That had to be because Mexican fighters, you guys are prideful. You guys are down that shield.

And you're that, you know, when we talk about Mexican fighters, we know they're tough. We know they're fearless and they don't fear any. They don't they'll walk through hell for a fight if they need to. Right. For you to not get up off that stool and take that bail in the night. What was going through your mind at that time, Oscar? Well, what happened in that fight? I mean, I was a zombie. I was drained. I think I had fought

Bernard Hopkins at 160. And then I said, let me dare to be great again and fight this young kid who they're talking about at 147. I literally weighed in 144 for that fight. And I was just, I was a skeleton. It was too much. So I knew in my head that it was over for me. The first round happened. He punched me. I couldn't throw back. My instincts weren't there.

My fast twitch muscles weren't there. And every single round, every single round, if you watch my documentary that came out on HBO called The Golden Boy, it explains to you what I was thinking, i was feeling i literally wanted to die in that ring

in the eighth round everybody was going to stop it okay or the seventh round one of those rounds everybody wanted to stop it including the referee the trainer and i said no i want one more because in my head i was thinking if he punches me maybe I won't I won't wake up you know were there some other things going on that you wanted to die in the ring of course I wanted my whole life to die the whole life that I was living at the time you know having to go through rehabs having to go through you know all this fame and money and women and this and that it was just overwhelming and now i can't perform now i don't have the last thing that i love that i worked so hard for i don't have it anymore right so just ended here in the middle of the ring

just punch me so i can die right wow so did you underestimate manny did you understand what he was i think he moved up from what once 106 to 112 and had blown through everybody 22 30 35 40 47 so you didn't underestimate him you knew what he he got pac-man that name he got that name for a reason oh yeah i i underestimated him but it didn't matter even if i even if i i was i was a dead man walking i was i i couldn't why did i take the fight at 54 i don't think they would have done it because he was coming like you said he was coming up and wait it was probably too much at the time. But even at 54, he probably still would have beat me. No shame in my game.

Shane Mosley. So, you fought Shane Mosley. Like you said, there's one thing they can't say about you. I mean, people might say a lot of different things about you, but they can't say that you ducked anybody. No, no, no. You fought Shane. No, I fought Shane when nobody wanted toed anybody. No, no, no. You fought Shane. No, I fought Shane when nobody wanted to fight Shane.

No, no, no. That was a hell of a fight. It was. It was. What made Shane unique? Well, I've known Shane since we were kids. And, you know, him beating everybody, labeled as like Sugar Ray Robinson. Not Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson.

Because he had dynamite. He was amazing. He can punch. Yes. But we grew up together, and I think we fought twice. I think he beat me twice, right? Or it was one and one.

So I knew what I was up against. I knew why people didn't want to fight him. Right. So I said, you know what? Why not? Come on, let's go. Let's dare to be great again. So Sta staples center it was the first fight ever we opened it up for the staples center he's from pomona he's from pomona exactly i mean it was shannon it was like the oscars wow it was

crazy and i mean i was like in i was starstruck just watching everybody in between rounds. Like, who's there? Who's there? It was amazing. It was incredible. And I'm just happy that it was a great fight. It was an amazing fight. Yeah, I'm sad that I lost, but it was a great fight.

In 1997, at the age of 24, you had five title fights in one year. Yeah. you had five title fights in one year yeah you beat uh Miguel Gonzalez yeah yeah Sweet P yeah Kamu Camacho yeah Wilford Rivera yeah yeah will we ever see a fight or fight five fights in one year again forget forget I ain't saying no we're not gonna see title fight sure but will we see a boxer fight five times in one season at the elite at the elite level yeah at the elite level no no we won't see it we won't see it it's um one thing about boxing that's taken place over the years and maybe it's the floyd effect who knows they they now think business first okay you know and that's a big problem. It's a big problem.

Fights are not being made because everybody wants to get, you know, the big chunk of the pie. Of course. So there's not enough money to go around. So guess what? Let me fight this guy who is going to cost me pennies on the dollar instead of fighting uh benavides you know who uh who equally should share the purse with canelo or maybe 60 40 give him 60 40 but you can't give him 80 20 70 30 you can't give him 10 20 i mean come on it's not fair right um yeah it's not going to happen ever again i think i wish it would but uh it's it's it's just hard to make

those fights happen because of the business so like when you like you're a promoter and you're trying to put fights together um when you go to your fighter he's like okay this is a fight that i think we can make happen yeah i think the split should probably be 55 45 60 40 what do you think about that you take it to the guy sure and and know, y'all bounce ideas off of each other. Is that how it works? Yeah. I mean, it all depends on the opponent. It depends on, you know, how long he's been champion.

Is he undefeated? Does he have a fan base? See, that's important. A lot of fighters today think that they're superstars because they have a world title. But guess what? They can't sell a seat which is a big problem wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast nfl daily with greg rosenthal five days a week you'll get all the latest news previews recaps

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Hey, you want to know the secret ingredient that makes Patrick Mahomes unstoppable? Or maybe which reality show best describes the Jets season? Look no further. We've got you covered for all things football. the wild moments you might have missed both on and off the field we bring it like nobody else straight from the stores whether you're a football fanatic or you just enjoy a good laugh make sure to listen to the good morning football podcast monday through friday on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast you know yeah once we get the right once we get the fees from television we have to sell tickets, that, pay-per-views. Well, guess what? Maybe because you don't sell, I'll give you a salary. Maybe I'll give you a flat fee. Right.

And it's going to be the biggest purse of your life, but you are not quite ready to make those pay-per-view dollars. To a headline. you know to a headline so that is that what because i think you're right because i think a lot of guys are like they're more concerned with being undefeated yeah than taking a big fight because oscar all things being equal i can't blame him if i can fight this if i can fight fighter b sure and make 15 million and i know i can beat him or there's a 90 chance i can beat him why would i fight fighter a for 20 million when it's 50-50? Sure. Well, look, first of all, the problem is that fighters are thinking they're going to make

$15 million. I just threw in that number. No, but that's a perfect example. Fighters have to realize their own worth. And they create their own worth. Yes, the promoter knows how to navigate your career and get you the right wins and position you to become a world champion.

But it's up to you to sell yourself. It's up, look at Floyd, look at Ryan Garcia. Look at these fighters like Canelo who have skills, who fight hard, but at the same time, they have that huge fan base because they're working it outside the ring. Right. But the thing is, Oscar, people want to see knockouts. People don't want to see, don't want

to go to the cards. And too many guys keep going to the cards. And yeah, you might be 20 and 0, but your fights are boring. If you're not knocking people down, if you're not putting people out, people are not going to pay their hard-earned money on a pay-per-view or to go to a fight i'll give you a perfect example of a young fighter right now in that position shakur stevenson the greatest fighter i've ever seen

beautiful style yes great technique has the punching power has the chin but he needs the confidence to fight he has to believe in himself to put on a good show and sell seats that's the problem he's having he's not selling seats he's a great fighter he's demanding all this money and fights are not not being made but in order to be a great fighter and to put people out you have to be willing to take a chance you have to because if you throw a punch you can't block like and throw the punch so you subject yourself to something coming back is he afraid of taking chances he afraid of receiving something that's coming back when he throws well yeah there's there's a saying what is it's uh scared for losing or you know it's it's

it's it's true i mean look fighting there's a stigma in boxing like if you lose your oh it's over right your career is over no it's not it depends how you fight you can be an undefeated fighter and not be a fighter and not be an attraction and not be a a guy who everybody wants to see it all depends on how you perform and you're as good as your last fight in boxing if you have a fight like let's say Jaime Munguia and Canelo right Jaime lost okay well his comeback fight if he chooses the right opponent and he looks like a million dollars and he knocks him out well guess what he's back he's probably even bigger than than than when he fought Canelo so it's all strategy it's all how you perform inside the ring you made a lot of money so what was some of the first what like being from east la you grew up how you grew up when you got that big payday what was the first thing oscar bought um wow man i was i was 19 18 that came out of the olympic games in 1992 i bought my i bought a home

for my for my parents for my for my dad okay yeah for my dad i bought a home for my dad and um and then let's see i wow yeah that was the big thing i bought yeah for my you didn't buy anything for yourself no no i'm not I wasn't really a big spender I wasn't really I'm not into cars. I'm not you know, it's like I kind of think maybe that's why I kept all my money But you like to gamble Here and there you don't gamble as much as I don't I don't I don't I mean I'll play within If I don't feel good Then I'll stop and I won't play and I don't I'll play within. If I don't feel good, then I'll stop and I won't play. And I don't, I'm not.

What's your game of choice? I'll do Baccarat and dice. Right. But I'll play maybe once every six, every year, once every five months. You know, I don't, it's not my thing. Right. I read that Jay-Z bet you $ hundred thousand that miguel koto would beat canelo yeah and sent you the money immediately after the loss so we're promoting uh canelo at

the time golden boy and uh he's promoting koto and so i said you know what why don't we why don't we place a bet here of 250 000 okay but it goes to charity okay so canelo wins my charity wins the two-fifths and sure enough he paid it on the spot i think the next day the check was in the bank so no look jay-z loves boxing uh he knows his boxing but he's uh he's a guy who uh you took advantage of who pays his bets you you know i did't. It was a close fight. It was a close fight. Actually, a lot of people think Cotto beat him. But I had the insight. What made you get into the promotion game?

When I started... Weren't you with Bob Arum? I was with Bob Arum. I was kind of breaking away from bob arum yeah our contract was expiring i i came out guns blazing saying i want to help out the athletes i want to be the promoter who is like looking out for the fighters okay that was that was my main motive that was that was why i started boxing right yeah so you got into the fight game and you said you know what i want to help the boxer.

I don't think they're getting a fair shake, blah, blah, blah. And you're like, okay, I'm going to start my own thing. I'm going to be, because you started this, you're still fighting. Yeah. Yeah. I was fighting at the time. I was active. I started when I fought Fernando Vargas.

Okay. And I remember being in the dressing room and I was beat up. I knocked him out in the 11th round, but I was just beat up. And I said to myself, you know what? I think it's almost time to retire. What am I going to do after boxing? What am I going to do? Yeah, I can drift off to the sunset and, you know,

go buy myself a little boat and live on the beach or whatever. But I knew that I was not going to be happy in the long run. So I said to myself, let me do something within the sport because I love boxing. There's a lot of room for improvement. A lot of fighters are saying, well, they need help, this and that. So let me start Golden Boy. And that's where it was born. So how do you convince?

Because, okay, you got top rank. I think Floyd has a company. I don't know if he's still with Al Hyman or anything like that. So I don't know what's going on with that. Eddie Hearn, I think Eddie Hearn has a fight company. Is Don King still in the business? There are four or five big promotions. So how does Oscar De La Hoya go and sit in someone's home or his mom's home, his dad's home, or have a conversation and says, Golden Boy is the right promotion company for you?

Well, first of all, yeah, there's Bob Arum. Don King, not really. I mean, both guys are like 95 years old. I don't know how Bob is doing it, but I want some of that stuff that he's taking. I really do. Because you see him, he's happy promoting at 95. So you have Eddie Hearn. So literally at PBC, which is Al Heyman. So there's, there's like four of us out there. The difference with all four. Okay. That nobody can say, okay, I was a fighter. I laced up the gloves.

I know what it feels like to take the punch. I know what it feels like to have to sell a fight, to go out there and promote. I know how it feels like to being taken advantage of because I'm a fighter. So I know all that. And plus, a huge advantage is I'm the only Hispanic fighter to ever start a national boxing promotion promotional company so if you take a look at all the Hispanic fighters that you know you you identify with them they look up to you so it makes it easier for me to

sign them and to and to guide them you know mean, not only do you speak their language, literally, you speak their language figuratively. Because you are a fighter. Yeah. And you went through it. I mean, you had the great amateur background and so forth and so on. But when you look at boxing, people don't box by choice. It's necessity. is necessity and sometimes i feel it's easy to take advantage of someone that comes from a disinvent uh impoverished situation because you throw a hundred thousand five hundred thousand

and then you sign the guy and then you're going to make money over fierce did did you experience some of that growing up when you were in the fight game when promoters tried to take advantage of oscar de la joya i i experienced it right when I got back from the Olympic Games. I experienced it when somebody promised me a million dollars, okay? I'm 18 years old. Here's a million dollars to sign with me. You know how much I saw? How much you get?

I saw like $50,000. What? About $50,000. So where did the other $950 go? I have no idea. Taxes? I don't know. The hell not.

Yeah, it was- Even back then, the tax bracket wasn't no 90%, Oscar. I learned the hard way. Really? I did. I learned the hard way. But that was the best. That was a blessing in disguise because I learned fast.

I learned how to take care of my money. I learned who to look out for. Okay, why do I need a manager? Why do I need an advisor? Why do I need an advisor? Okay. I need a promoter because the promoter is going to guide my career and take me to the next level. I can't do what a promoter is doing for me. Right. Fighters need a promoter. So I said, okay, let me, that's, that's a percentage off my pie. Right. Okay. Um, but everything else I can just pay on salary. Right. That's it. So I'm

keeping all of my pie to myself. So that's, yeah, I learned the hard way, you know, fairly quick. And because you need tax people, because you hear, see a lot of boxers that run into tax problems. And, but let me ask you this. I was reading somewhere is like, I think I was reading somewhere, it's like, I think I was reading that the guy was explaining like Mike Tyson and Don King. Like if you go to your promoter, Bob Maram at the time, and you say, Bob, I need 20 tickets. Those are not gifts. You got to pay for those. That's going to come out your salary, right?

Oh, yeah. And whoever's participating in the fight, it's coming off their percentage as well. So yeah, nothing's free. Right. So you get. So, oh, man, my promoter bought me this Rolls Royce. My promoter bought me this mean coat and this Rolex. And did fighters always know that even though they were getting these things, that that was actually coming out of their pocket or they thought they were just being gifted those things? coming out of their pocket or they thought they were just being gifted those things? It's a couple of things. A lot of athletes, a lot of fighters, they just turn away. They don't want to hear about it. They don't want to, I guess, know that that's real. They just want to shy away from it and let somebody else deal with it. I think that it's the athletes' responsibility.

For instance, Mike Tyson and Don King, well, people keep saying, well, Don King ripped off Mike Tyson and this and that. Well, Mike Tyson made about 400, $500 million. That's his money. What he does with that, it's not Don King's fault. Right. So, you know, you have to, as an athlete, as a person, you have to look out for your best interests as well. You mentioned earlier when Floyd was, he bought out of his contract with Top Rank. You had started your company. Sure. And for like, what, 16, 17 fights, you promoted Floyd. I did promote Floyd.

Yeah. 17 fights you promoted floyd i did promote floyd yeah and then you know he was the time when he was making the uh i think was a showtime contract 30 40 million dollars yeah we promoted all those fights right um you know great experience for us it was um you know it put us on the map obviously and you know we're now one of the top promoters in the world so look boxing the one thing that i i'm not too keen on and with boxing is that it became a business it wasn't a business before yes you're making money i made a lot of money but i treated boxing as as as as you know trying be great, as a platform for me to be great, not a businessman. I'm not a boxer, but can I look at it like this? They saw a lot of other great fighters in their career, great, but broke. broke yeah and so they said of all things being equal i would rather be less great and more

wealthy as opposed as opposed to being great and broke can you i i have to disagree because i i i've lived it yeah i i'm in these shoes and and it's again the responsibility of the fighter, of the athlete. And it's not just boxers. I mean, look, if I'm making $30 million and I'm spending like a madman and I'm having all these revenues come in. Well, you actually made $15 because don't say I've got to get half. So you didn't make $15, you made $15. But if I'm spending like I'm still making that type of money, guess what? I'm going to run out of money. And that's the individual's fault. Maybe I'm spending like I'm still making that type of money, guess what? I'm going to run out of money. Right.

And that's the individual's fault. Right. Maybe I'm not paying taxes. Maybe I owe people money. Maybe I'm just maybe I just want to live this lavish lifestyle so I can get the clicks. It's it's it's the individual's responsibility. But you have to understand also, Oscar, you're dealing with guys that have very limited education they come from very impoverished backgrounds they're trying to lift themselves up lift them family their families up sure and put them in a in a in a social economics yeah that

had it not been for boxing they probably would have never been there absolutely and so they're easy to take advantage of absolutely but i i what you're saying. Like, Oh, it's still your responsibility. But me, I couldn't take advantage of someone, even if, even if I had the opportunity and I know they're not, man, I can, I'm gonna rob this dude and he got to go know anything. That's just not in me. I'm not so sure. A lot of promoters had that same philosophy though. There's a lot of, and like I mentioned, the promoters I just mentioned have never laced up the gloves, so they don't understand.

Right. They don't live it. This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted, and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Che Che Profile, and I'll see you there.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app,

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