A Settlement Is Called Near for De La Hoya

Thirteen months after his professional debut, Oscar De La Hoya and his estranged co-managers are expected to officially end their business relationship by the middle of this week.

In exchange for a cash settlement, Bob Mittleman and Steve Nelson have agreed in principle to terminate their five-year, $1-million contract with the fighter and drop a $10-million lawsuit they had filed against two of De La Hoya’s new advisers.

Mittleman, reached in Chicago on Monday, said final details were still being worked out but that he hoped the settlement would be final soon.

Signed months after De La Hoya became the U.S. boxing team’s only gold medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, that managerial and personal services contract, which paid the managers one-third of all earnings, was one of the richest ever given to a fighter with no professional experience.

The settlement, mediated by promoter Bob Arum, frees De La Hoya to continue his boxing career, which he had put on hold during his management problems.

His March 5 World Boxing Organization junior-lightweight title fight against champion Jimmy Bredahl at the Olympic Auditorium, which had been in limbo, is now back on the schedule, according to Arum. De La Hoya’s last fight was on Oct. 30, meaning that he will have a four-month layoff before his first world title fight.

De La Hoya, who has apparently not yet chosen a new team and is considering managing himself, is expected to sign a five-fight, $7.5-million package with HBO.

The settlement also ends any possibility that De La Hoya would face disciplinary action by the New York State Athletic Commission for canceling a Dec. 9 fight at Madison Square Garden days before the fight.

“It looks like everything is solved,” Arum said Monday. “Everybody has reached an agreement, and now I’m just waiting to get the final word that it’s officially done.”

The settlement payment will apparently include a large portion of De La Hoya’s $1-million purse from the March 5 fight.