HBO’s Motion Denied in De La Hoya Case

HBO has lost the first round in its legal struggle to keep Oscar De La Hoya contractually bound.

Federal judge Victor Marrero, citing a fighter’s limited earning period, refused Thursday to grant HBO’s motion to either enjoin De La Hoya’s fight March 24 against Arturo Gatti or to stipulate that the fight can be shown only on HBO.

HBO will press on with its request for a declaratory judgment on its contract with De La Hoya, which covers his next four fights. Under terms of that deal, HBO is obligated to pay De La Hoya $4.5 million for the Gatti fight.

When De La Hoya refused to guarantee that he would honor the rest of the contract, HBO went to court.

“HBO’s position on the merits of the case is unaffected and continues to be that it holds the exclusive television rights to Oscar De La Hoya’s fights,” said Ray Stallone, a network spokesman. “The court has scheduled the case for an expedited trial.”

HBO had hoped to force the issue with its injunction request.

Sources within the De La Hoya camp are talking about a new television deal for the Gatti fight, one that would combine the resources of the Fox network and Univision, the Spanish-language network run by Jerry Perenchio, De La Hoya’s new promoter.