So Friday before the big holiday weekend, Oscar De La Hoya sent a tweet to Bob Arum asking for forgiveness. It came from the unknown Southern California rehabilitation center where De La Hoya is reportedly undergoing treatment for any number of reasons.
What we do know, this must be a serious situation for De La Hoya. He reaches out to his one friend and adversary. But we should not speculate that there is now peace with Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions. And it does not mean that we are anywhere further from seeing Manny Pacquiao facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. regardless of the tweet from a rehab center.
Read the message. Determine yourself what intentions were to Arum. ?Dear Bob Arum, first I would like to humbly apologize for any pain I have caused you and your family. I also want to apologize to Manny Pacquiao for any wrongdoing on my part. You are a great champion.?
Okay, Pacquiao gets an apology. De La Hoya obviously has plenty of thinking time for whatever addictions he has to overcome, and there are many rumors, addiction to cocaine abuse, to marital issues. Whatever it is, De La Hoya with his messages to Arum, have nothing to do with mending the fences and getting Golden Boy once again involved with putting Pacquiao in the ring with Mayweather.
It may have more to do with the nasty and verbal battle over the contract and promotional rights of Nonito Donaire, a Top Rank fighter that Golden Boy claims they own. If one has experience dealing with an individual in a rehabilitation facility, then it is understood. De La Hoya is evaluating his issues and realizing that if it weren?t for Bob Arum there would be no Oscar De La Hoya and a 10-time world champion.
That is the message that should be comprehended here. De La Hoya is in pain and reflecting on a career and gifted life that should be attributed to Arum. Yes they made money together. And there is cause to say if it were not for De La Hoya, then Arum would not be as successful after his heyday of promoting fights with Marvin Hagler Thomas Hearns, Sugar Rey Leonard and Roberto Duran.
Take a look at the other factor. This has nothing to do with Arum and De La Hoya. Because the bitterness is between Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer who took over negotiations for the proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao fight almost two years ago. Since then the war of words continued and Arum, on more than one occasion has stated he would no longer deal with Golden Boy as long as Schaefer was involved.
The involvement has been Schaefer booking boxing cards at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, a home for Arum. The war of words extended to the two major boxing networks, Showtime and HBO and it may have caused Arum to book Showtime PPV over HBO PPV as distributor of the Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga fight, and the Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight earlier this month,
And the entire steroid test that Mayweather stipulated for Pacquiao that was another Schaefer tactic, though we are to believe it came from Mayweather and De La Hoya. For whatever reason, financial or otherwise, Schaefer got involved with Mayweather who is not a Golden Boy fighter.
Arum is old school in a boxing business that is new school. De La Hoya works the same way whether it can believed the apology was made under duress and pain. Or was it Richard Schaefer doing business behind the scenes because he wants to still be a part of the inevitable Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown?
There are many variables to this equation. But one thing is certain. Arum co-promoted again with Don King and will let bygones be bygones. But letting Richard Schaefer back in the discussion with a Pacquiao-Mayeather fight is not going to happen.
If the fight we all want to see becomes a reality, Mayweather will decide when. And Bob Arum will do what is best for Pacquiao, even with the kind words coming from a tweet by Oscar De La Hoya.
