De La Hoya rules out Haney rematch in bizarre rant
The Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya shut down any talk of a rematch between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia while taking a swipe at Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn.
WBC Super Lightweight champ Devin Haney (31-1-0, 15 KO) lost his undefeated status, if not his belt, to Ryan García (25-1- 0, 20 KO) last Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Haney asked for a rematch but Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, King Ry’s promoter, made it crystal clear that a rematch is out of the question.
On Instagram, Haney posted, “Ryan, despite the circumstances was victorious that night and that’s fine. I do feel like weight played a role in it but only Allah knows. I would love to run it back and give the fans a FAIR fight within an agreed weight.” García came in 3.2 pounds over the 140lb limit, a move that was clearly a calculated tactical decision on King Ry’s part, and has drawn tons of criticism from boxers and trainers around the world.
Oscar replied to Haney’s Instagram post saying, “Good luck with Eddie but there will not be a rematch. Good luck in your career and good luck with Eddie a European promoter trying to make it in the US.” The reference was to Devin Haney signing with Eddie Hearn’s London-based promotion company Matchroom Boxing.
With his blood now boiling, De La Hoya then took a swipe at Hearn directly, responding to a message that the promoter posted on Instagram saying, “The road is long. This young man will be back stronger than ever! @RealDevinHaney.”
The Golden Boy responded, “You obviously never laced up the gloves. Just like Don King and the rest. You don’t know what it’s like to fight inside a ring. Guess what? I do, and that beating will last for a while.”
Only a few days later, after taking a frankly racist jab at Saudi Arabia’s sports minister Turki Al-Sheikh, De La Hoya doubled down on his xenophobic ranting and responded to Eddie Hearn’s next Instagram post announcing the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov bout. De La Hoya wrote, “Eddie, for the sake of British Boxing just stay in the UK and promote, leave the real promoters to the US market where boxing matters. You had your opportunity wasting away hundreds of millions of dollars building nothing in the US.”
Hearn responded to that post with, “@OscarDeLaHoya genuinely are you ok? You stalk me like a crazed fan. You had a great win on Saturday yet I consume your mind 24/7. Unfortunately for you, I am a global promoter with 18 world Champions (you have four). I have big plans to work with everyone to grow the sport globally and have some fantastic talent in the US market. Genuinely wish you all the best and hope you can enjoy what you do.”
Oscar De La Hoya was an outstanding boxer, and has been a great promoter with Golden Boy. But this latest string of what can only be described as trolling is beneath him. Perhaps he saw how it worked for Ryan Garcia and wants to emulate that. Who knows? But perhaps he should remember the wise words of Samuel Johnson, who sagely taught us that “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
Tread carefully, Golden Boy.