De La Hoya,Perenchio Split

World Boxing Council super-welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya and his promoter, Jerry Perenchio, have terminated their relationship after two fights.

And guess who might be back in the picture? Promoter Bob Arum, who was fired by De La Hoya last year, has begun negotiations toward a possible reunion with the man he turned into a multimillionaire. Arum and De La Hoya will speak by phone today, their first conversation since the day after De La Hoya lost to Shane Mosley in June 2000.

Officially, Perenchio resigned because of “increased commitments” to his Univision television network.

But unofficially, sources say, it was De La Hoya who wanted to move on, unhappy his profit margin and overall promotion under Perenchio was not what it had been in his glory days under Arum.

De La Hoya has let it be known he is a free agent, interested in signing with whichever promoter can set up the most lucrative deal against a major opponent.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya’s business advisor, was on the phone with Arum, whose appeal of the judgment that permitted De La Hoya to break his contract with Arum is still in the courts.

After Perenchio went to work for De La Hoya, Arum and De La Hoya engaged in an ugly public battle.

De La Hoya bragged about beating “the biggest Jew to come out of Harvard,” and Arum refused to return De La Hoya’s Olympic gold medal, which the fighter had given him as a birthday present.

And now these two might reunite?

“You have to forget emotions,” Arum said. “This is business. I am still perturbed by what happened and all the animosity, but there is nothing that should prevent us from working together in the future.”

However, Arum said, as far as he’s concerned, he still has a valid contract with De La Hoya and that must be dealt with as part of any future deal.

Schaefer is also expected to talk to promoters Don King and Gary Shaw along with Lou DiBella, who is serving as an advisor to undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins and is close to De La Hoya.

There was a perception that Perenchio, a television mogul who had been out of boxing for a quarter century, and his chief lieutenant, Howard Rose, who manages musical groups, were out of touch.

“It was inevitable,” said one critic who chose to remain anonymous. “A guy has got to have some expertise. Boxing is not an easy business.”

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Former two-time heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has signed to fight Ray Mercer Jan. 19th at New York’s Madison Square Garden.