De La Hoya: “We Believe in Fair Business, But the TKO Scumbags Want to Change Everything”

Oscar De La Hoya, founder and head of Golden Boy Promotions, has issued a scathing statement following the California State Athletic Commission’s vote to support proposed amendments to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act— a move allegedly pushed by TKO Group and Zuffa Boxing, led by Dana White.

“Yesterday something happened that calls the entire boxing community into question. The California State Athletic Commission held a closed-door session where they voted to approve the proposed changes to the Ali Act. TKO has been pushing for these changes for a long time — to deceive fighters in their new league.

Fighters and managers attended the first hearing back in September and voiced serious concerns, so the commission promised to revisit the issue in December. But suddenly, they voted and approved everything yesterday, ignoring public opinion. I’m terribly disappointed.

No other promoter has ever tried to change this law — because there’s no need. We believe in fair business. But these scumbags at TKO want to change everything. Look at their plans — Dana openly said they’ll only recognize one belt, their own. They want to destroy every other title and the rich history of boxing. They even want to change the size and shape of the ring to suit their own rules. What’s next — tigers and lions chained to the ring?

Dana will call his friend, President Trump, to help push these changes through Congress. So much for American values and the First Amendment — apparently, they don’t apply here. This is a serious warning for fighters and managers, because it’s all written in black and white. TKO is deliberately changing the law to blatantly deceive boxers,” said De La Hoya.