De La Hoya Gains His Freedom From Arum

After losing two of his last three fights by decision, Oscar De La Hoya got the judge’s decision he needed Thursday to jump-start his stalled career.

It came not in the ring but in the Los Angeles federal district courtroom of Judge Matt Byrne, who ruled in favor of De La Hoya in his legal battle with his former promoter, Bob Arum. Byrne granted De La Hoya’s request for a summary judgment, making De La Hoya’s contract with Arum null and void, thus allowing the former welterweight champion to return to boxing with a new promoter, Jerry Perenchio.

“We got everything we were looking for,” said Jeff Spitz, a De La Hoya attorney.

Tom Girardi, Arum’s attorney, said his side will appeal through the circuit court but admitted that process could take up to a year or more. In the meantime, Arum and Girardi said, they will not seek an injunction to prevent De La Hoya from fighting.

That frees De La Hoya, who has been in limbo since he lost to Shane Mosley in June, to box again after having pursued a career as a singer in the interim.

De La Hoya will get back into the ring at his Big Bear training headquarters next Friday, and hopes to have a fight by the end of March.

When De La Hoya went to court in August to terminate his relationship with Arum, the promoter was furious and talked about the lack of gratitude shown by the fighter, for whom Arum made over $125 million, largely through his promotional efforts. Arum boldly predicted a legal victory and scoffed at a $3-million settlement offer from De La Hoya, saying it would take $100 million to get him to step aside.

But Arum was subdued and morose Thursday when contacted at his Las Vegas office after learning of the ruling.

“It’s horrible,” he said. “I think the judge was wrong. This is not going to stand. This is very disappointing, but you go on. Life goes on.”

De La Hoya was not available for comment.

“This is a very curious ruling,” Girardi said. “We feel fairly optimistic that this verdict will be reversed, but then we felt fairly optimistic that we would win this time.”

Byrne granted the judgment, according to Spitz, based on three points:

* That Arum had not properly followed California requirements for filing a promoter’s contract.

* That Arum was, in effect, De La Hoya’s manager as well, but did not have a California manager’s license.

* That Arum’s eight-year relationship with De La Hoya violated state limits of three years for a promoter’s contract, five years for a manager’s contract and seven years for a personal-services contract.

Byrne informed the parties of his ruling from the bench Thursday. His 54-page opinion will follow in the next few days.

Girardi pointed out that he has documentation from the California State Athletic Commission that Arum is not De La Hoya’s manager.

“The judge said that Mr. Arum controlled Mr. De La Hoya’s bouts, which is incorrect,” Girardi said. “Clearly, Mr. De La Hoya already has managers, who are the only ones who can accept or reject bouts. But the judge found that Mr. Arum is really a manager.”

Although De La Hoya has had business managers, including Richard Schaefer who is currently serving in that capacity, he has not had anyone designated as a fight manager since the early days of his career.

Girardi also maintained that, because the Arum-De La Hoya contract has been redone several times, the length limitations did not apply.

“There was never a day over that period when Oscar was not legally bound to Bob Arum,” Spitz said.

“For the life of me, I have no idea what the judge was thinking,” said Girardi, who has been practicing law for more than three decades.

“We all lose cases, but this is truly the most amazing loss I have ever had in terms of a trial decision.”