Promoters Looking for Gold

“I’m looking forward to extending our relationship over the years and hopefully for the rest of my life.”

Oscar De La Hoya on promoter Jerry Perenchio, Sept. 29, 2000

*

Last Tuesday, Oscar De La Hoya terminated that relationship with Jerry Perenchio.

Oh well, life can be short, especially when you work for De La Hoya.

For the World Boxing Council’s super-welterweight champion, a master at reinventing himself, life has, once again, begun anew.

His playboy days behind him, he is newly married.

His singing days behind him, at least for now, he is back in the ring.

And his days of fighting stiffs behind him, he is ready to take on the big names in his weight division.

But the first order of business is to replace Perenchio.

“It doesn’t really matter who the promoter is,” Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya’s business advisor, insisted. “This is not rocket science. I don’t think one will pay more than the other. And it’s not just who offers the best purse. Reputation is a very important factor. So are the ethical values of whomever we sign with. We want to be careful.

“If we are going to be free agents, there are a lot of possibilities out there and we can afford to be selective.”

There are four prime candidates who would love to hitch their wagons to boxing’s brightest star.

And make no mistake about it, despite losses in his two biggest fights, even though he took a nine-month hiatus from boxing and hasn’t fought a major opponent in 17 months, De La Hoya is still his sport’s Golden Boy.

His match against unknown Javier Castillejo in June attracted around 380,000 pay-per-view buys, a figure exceeded this year only by the Felix Trinidad-Bernard Hopkins middleweight title match.

Who will win the De La Hoya sweepstakes? Let’s look at the contenders:

BOB ARUM

Pluses: Arum doesn’t have to bring a resume. De La Hoya knows full well what he can do. Before De La Hoya foolishly broke their contract last year, Arum did a masterful job of making De La Hoya the richest nonheavyweight of his era.

Arum skillfully guided De La Hoya in the early stages of his career, making sure everyone he fought was either too small, too inexperienced or, in the case of big names like Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker, too old.

Arum created a crossover image for De La Hoya, making him appealing to Anglos and Latinos, men and women.

In the ring, De La Hoya made more than $100 million. Outside it, he earned millions more by tapping into the Latino market, the fastest-growing consumer group in the country.

Minuses: Arum may bring his experience, but not much else. All of De La Hoya’s potential blockbuster opponents are either tied to the other candidates--Fernando Vargas to Gary Shaw, Trinidad to Don King, Bernard Hopkins to King and Lou DiBella--or, in the case of Shane Mosley, soon to be a free agent.

“There is no reason to bring in an Arum and have two promoters,” DiBella said. “Then there is just less money for Oscar.”

Said Shaw of a possible De La Hoya-Vargas fight, “Bob’s cut could kill the deal.”

Also, there’s that lingering matter of De La Hoya’s old contract with Arum. Although it was ruled void, Arum is appealing the decision.

De La Hoya wants Arum to drop the appeal before he considers signing a new contract with him. Arum has refused, but says he would waive any damages awarded if De La Hoya returned.

DON KING

Pluses: At his recent induction into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, King turned on the dais to De La Hoya and asked, “When are we going to do business together?”

Business is good for King. He has Trinidad, he has Hopkins and he’s trying to get Mosley.

“If he got those three and then Oscar signed with him, think of the tournament he could put on,” DiBella said. “It would be one of the greatest tournaments seen in generations.”

Minuses: Fighters have accused King of taking more than his fair share of the profits.

DiBella said, “What Oscar needs is someone to look over his shoulder, no matter who he signs with, someone to look out for his interests.”

That, of course, would be DiBella.

GARY SHAW

Pluses: Shaw and his Main Events boxing organization have Vargas, the most likely candidate for De La Hoya’s next scheduled fight, May 4.

“Oscar should fight Fernando and let us promote it,” Shaw said. “He doesn’t need to bring in another promoter like Arum, who would want a big piece of the pie. If we do De La Hoya-Vargas, we would show them a real promotion. We would take it to the streets and call it ‘Bad Blood.”’

Minuses: There is indeed bad blood between De La Hoya and Vargas. And Vargas wouldn’t be happy sharing Shaw with De La Hoya beyond the one fight.

“I’m proud to be Fernando Vargas’ promoter,” Shaw said. “We would go to him before we did anything. I don’t sell my fighters out like Don King does. He’s promoting Hasim Rahman and he tries to get Lennox Lewis even before they fought.”

LOU DiBELLA

Pluses: Close to De La Hoya, DiBella offers expertise in boxing and, as the sport’s driving force at HBO before leaving last year, television.

“I would absolutely love to work with Oscar in an advisory capacity,” DiBella said. “I would be flattered to be asked. Negotiating would be easy. No matter what fight Oscar wants, he is the money man. If Oscar fights Vargas, Oscar is the money man.

“If Oscar fights Trinidad, Oscar is the money man. I advise Bernard, but I’d be the first to tell to him, if he fights Oscar, Oscar is the money man. He is biggest draw right now.”

Minuses: DiBella does not have a promoter’s license, so De La Hoya would still have to find someone to do the myriad tasks required in a promotion.