Getting a sports figure to admit wrongdoing in this day and age is rare. It was therefore refreshing to hear Oscar De La Hoya on Wednesday say that he regrets the role he played in his feud with Bob Arum, and that if he could he would take back every bad thing he said about his former promoter the past three years.
The two had been engaged in a war of words since De La Hoya left Arum for the second time following his knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins in September 2004. De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions was already established, and he wanted to promote the rest of his fights.
De La Hoya and Arum also fought over the promotional rights to Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao. When an out-of-court settlement was reached in Oscar De La Hoya Celebrates with promoter Bob Arum after retaining his WBO Junior Lightweight Belt against challenger Giorgio Campanella at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The two have made amends, and co-promote the upcoming rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. (Getty Images) late June, the two also agreed to bury their personal hatchet and again begin pitting their fighters against each other. They had not co-promoted a fight since November 2004.
De La Hoya and Arum will co-host a news conference Friday in Beverly Hills promoting the rematch between Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas. Barrera is promoted by Golden Boy, Pacquiao by Golden Boy and Arum’s Top Rank Inc.
De La Hoya is also promoting Saturday’s second World Cup of Advertisement Boxing. It will feature seven bouts between fighters from Mexico and the Philippines at ARCO Arena in Sacramento. During a layover on his way to Sacramento, De La Hoya spoke with this newspaper. He admitted that his part in the war of words with Arum was somewhat hypocritical of him because his credo has been to do things that will help boxing, not hurt it.
“You are absolutely right,” De La Hoya said. “I wish I can take it back. With me and Arum, it was kind of like a marriage. We divorced and emotions were running high and we said a few things through the media we really didn’t mean. And now we’ve grown from this, both of us, and we want to do what’s best for boxing.
“Did we say a few harsh things to each other? Yeah, we did. And I’m sure I can speak for Bob, also, that if we had a chance to tak
