AS FAR as Oscar De La Hoya is concerned, he and former promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank can no longer look each other in the eye and set aside differences to stage fights the public wants to see, starring of course Manny Pacquiao.
The Los Angeles Times ran a lengthy story written by staff writer Lance Pugmire on Saturday detailing the cause of the rift between De La Hoya, boxing’s top draw, and Arum, arguably the sport’s’ most powerful promoter in the last 30 years.
Asked whether there is a chance of him and Arum getting to talk again after their separation several years ago, De La Hoya answered that everything’s over between him and the Harvard-educated lawyer.
“Permanently,” was De la Hoya’s reply concerning his decision to ignore Arum, who countered that “this is total idiocy.”
The Times reported that “on surface, their feud rages around a fierce court battle for the promotional rights to super-featherweight Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, a battle that Arum thus far is winning.”
“But hard feelings have been building for at least eight years, interviews reveal. And money differences seem to mark each mile along De La Hoya’s road from deep admiration to utter disdain,” wrote Pugmire, who a few weeks ago, did a couple of far-reaching articles on Pacquiao in the buildup to the Filipino’s April 14 fight in San Antonio, Texas.
“There’s no way we can make peace together,” said De La Hoya, who actually signed up Pacquiao to a seven-fight deal on Sept. 19, 2006 in a Los Angeles steakhouse, a few hours after the boxer got off a Philippine Airlines jet that originated in Manila.
While De La Hoya has decided to close the doors even for a temporary respite from all the legal battle, Arum is not losing hope and during run-up to Pacquiao’s bout at the Alamodome, he frequently told reporters of his wish to pair Pacquiao with fighters belonging to De La Hoya’s outfit.
The Times went further in analyzing the war between De La Hoya and Arum and another major player in big-time boxing, Don King, summed it all up by drawing insights from the legend of Frankenstein, the 1831 literary masterpiece of Mary Shelley.
“The great genius made a great man, but when the lightning starts striking and Frankenstein comes to life and gets up on his own, he wants to kill the doctor,” King said.
