De La Hoya’s Pocketbook Is Closed, Arum’s Is Open

Oscar De La Hoya, supposedly taking a stand against the powerful sanctioning organizations, will not pay a sanctioning fee to the World Boxing Council for Saturday’s fight against Shane Mosley at Staples Center.

But before you shed a tear for WBC president Jose Sulaiman and his organization, be advised, Bob Arum, De La Hoya’s promoter, is making the sanctioning payment after getting a reduced rate from Sulaiman.

So what has changed? Nothing, really. Arum is merely giving De La Hoya a gift by paying a bill that would normally come out of De La Hoya’s purse.

The WBC usually charges 3% of a fighter’s purse. Since De La Hoya’s purse Saturday is $8 million, that would have meant a $240,000 sanctioning fee. Arum wouldn’t reveal the amount of the discount.

De La Hoya lost the WBC welterweight title to Felix Trinidad last September. When Trinidad moved up from 147 pounds to 154, De La Hoya was awarded the WBC crown by virtue of his victory over little-regarded Derrell Coley in February.

Still to be worked out between Sulaiman and Cedric Kushner, Mosley’s promoter, is the sanctioning fee to be paid by Mosley.

“Oscar . . . is not paying sanctioning fees, period,” Arum said Monday. “The promoter needs the sanction for marketing purposes. The fighter doesn’t need it.

“I hope this is the opening salvo against the sanctioning fees. Oscar is doing this on behalf of himself, of course, but he is also doing it for all fighters.”

So all fighters in the future can get out of paying sanctioning fees if their promoters pay them with money that comes out of the same pot.

But if Arum’s announcement Monday lacks substance, it does do wonders for the image of all concerned.

De La Hoya gets to look like the good guy, Arum gets a reduced rate, Sulaiman still gets a sizable sanctioning fee and De La Hoya-Mosley gets the official blessing of the WBC, making it a battle for the WBC welterweight title as well as the International Boxing Assn. championship.