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De La Hoya, Arum seek to end ‘Cold War,’ Pacquiao-Garcia on table

Fighters Network
30
Aug
Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum in 2002 at a press conference for De La Hoya's fight against Fernando Vargas. Photo by Jed Jacobsohn - Getty Images.

Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum in 2002 at a press conference for De La Hoya’s fight against Fernando Vargas. Photo by Jed Jacobsohn – Getty Images.

 

Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya said that he will meet with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum “next weekend, face to face, in Los Angeles” in order “to talk about ending the Cold War between Golden Boy and Top Rank.”

De La Hoya told RingTV.com on Friday that he “spoke to Bob today” while Arum was in San Francisco in the midst of an ambitious media tour to promote Manny Pacquiao’s Nov. 22 defense of his WBO welterweight belt against rising WBO 140-pound titleholder Chris Algieri.

“We’re going to talk about ending the Cold War between Golden Boy and Top Rank. My objective is to make the big fights,” said De La Hoya. “Golden Boy has fighters that can fight Top Rank fighters and who can make great fights. We want to make great, exciting fights that the people want to see, and that’s what I want to talk to Bob about.”



On Friday, Pacquiao was scheduled to throw out the first pitch for the San Francisco Giants’ game against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, with a hitting contest between Pacquiao and Algieri slated to happen prior to the start of the contest, according to Arum.

“That’s correct. Oscar called me at the ballpark, and we arranged to have our talk. When I finish with the tour in New York, I’ll be flying to Los Angeles,” said Arum, 82, under whom De La Hoya turned professional after winning an Olympic gold medal in 1992.

“I’ll be meeting with Oscar over the weekend. I have always had a fatherly relationship with Oscar. We went through a whole period of his life, and, of course, my life, together, and I have very warm feelings about him.”

It was back in May at Arum’s vacation home in Los Angeles that Arum and De La Hoya, 41, held a two-and-a half-hour meeting along with Arum’s stepson, Top Rank President Todd duBoef.

After their gathering, Arum declared that he and De La Hoya had “totally repaired” their acrimonious relationship. But their reconciliation is believed to have led, in part, to the resignation of Richard Schaefer as CEO of Golden Boy. Arum and Schaefer were bitter rivals.

One dream matchup that De La Hoya expressed interest in discussing with Arum is that between Pacquiao and RING/WBA/WBC champion Danny Garcia.

“You could have Danny Garcia versus Manny Pacquiao. What a fight that would be. That’s what I want to talk to Bob about. Danny Garcia versus Manny Pacquiao? Come on,” said De La Hoya.

“You would have the young, strong bull versus the not-so-young strong bull in Manny. Those are the types of fights and matches that I want to talk to Bob and see what we can come up with.”

Arum concurred.

“I think that we can talk about Pacquiao and Garcia. That’s a fight that might make a lot of sense,” said Arum, who has spoken to Pacquiao and his advisor, Michael Koncz, about Garcia.

“I’ve mentioned the possibility of that fight to Manny and Michael for down the road, and obviously, that’s something that might be of interest to our side, and I’m glad that they have expressed interest from his side. We haven’t talked about it, Oscar and I, but that’s a fight we would be interested in talking about.”

It was back in June that featherweight Gary Russell Jr. called his WBO title bout against Top-Rank promoted Vasyl Lomachenko a potential “breakthrough” in the rift that had prevented Top Rank’s fighters from facing those such as Russell who are promoted by Golden Boy and aligned with powerful advisor Al Haymon.

Like Russell, who lost the bout to Lomachenko, Garcia is advised by Haymon.

“We’re making a big move here,” said De La Hoya. “This is an effort to make the fights that the fans deserve.”

 

J’LEON LOVE 167.5, ROGELIO MEDINA 169.6

J’Leon Love (18-0, 10 KOs) and rival Rogelio Medina (32-6, 26 KOs) weighed 167.5 pounds and 168.6, respectively, in advance of Saturday’s clash in Las Vegas.

In his last fight, Love earned a unanimous decision over former title challenger Marco Antonio Periban on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Marcos Maidana I undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

For the co-feature, Jason Escalera (15-2-1, 12 KOs) and Badou Jack (16-1-1, 11 KOs) weighed 169.2 and 169.4. Escalera has scored consecutive decisions over two previously unbeaten fighters following two losses — he was stopped in the eighth round by title challenger Edwin Rodriguez in September 2012.

Jack is looking to rebound after a 61-second stoppage loss to Derek Edwards in February that followed his sixth-round knockout of Medina in December.

Also on the card, super middleweights Ronald Gavril and rival Thomas Falowo each weighed 166.

 

JUAN PABLO LOPEZ 141, FERNANDO TORRES 141

Welterweights Juan Pablo “Che Che” Lopez (25-3, 21 KOs) and Fernando Torres (18-5-1, 10 KOs) each weighed 141 pounds for the main event of Saturday’s tripleheader on Televisa and FOX Deportes from Cancun, Mexico.

Also, lightweights Jeffrey Fontanez (15-0, 11 KOs) and rival Gilberto “Flaco” Gonzalez (22-3, 18 KOs) came in at 134.2 and 135 pounds, and Roberto “Tito” Manzanarez (27-1, 23 KOs) and opponent Ricardo “Piolo” Castillo (40-11-1, 26 KOs) came in at 135 and 136, respectively,

 

JONATHAN GUZMAN, JAVIER FORTUNA, OSCAR ESCANDON SIGN WITH AL HAYMON

Junior featherweight Jonathan Guzman (16-0, 16 KOs), junior lightweight Javier Fortuna (25-0-1, 18 KOs) and 140-pounder Oscar Escandon (23-1, 16 KOs) have signed with Al Haymon, their promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said.

Guzman will fight an opponent to be determined on the Sept. 6 undercadrd of a main event between IBF junior featherweight beltholder Kiko Martinez and Carl Frampton in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lewkowicz said.

“I am very happy because I’ve known Al Haymon since he first started in this business with [the late] Vernon Forrest. Every time that I make a deal with him, I’ve never had to sign a contract,” said Lewkowicz.

“All that we’ve done is to shake hands. When I received the call, I had the choice to allow him to have my fighters as an advisor and I continue to be their promoter, or not to do that. But I appreciate that in Al Haymon.”

 

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