There is a, shall we say, healthy rivalry between, well, rival promoters Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy and Eddie Hearn of Matchroom. The insults, most of them coming from Oscar, have been going back and forth for a while now, with De La Hoya being almost comically critical of Hearn in his regular ‘Clap Back Thursday’ video releases.
Hearn has often said he has nothing against De La Hoya and that he is at a loss as to where the seemingly really dislike comes from. But now, we fans could benefit from the rivalry between the two powerhouse promoters. Hearn, as we know, went head-to-head with another, former rival promoter, Frank Warren, in the hugely successful and entertaining ‘5 Vs. 5’ show. Five of Warren’s fighters went up against five of Hearn’s fighters, and surprisingly Warren won via a clean and decisive 5 wins to nil.
Now we could see a Golden Boy Vs. Matchroom ‘5 Vs. 5.’
Hearn called De La Hoya out for it, and the Golden Boy head responded. Now, De La Hoya has a date in mind for the showdown card – Cinco de Mayo next year. De La Hoya spoke with Forbes, and he said the May date would be great for the card.
As for the five fights we could see, these five potential thrillers are apparently in the offing:
Shakur Stevenson Vs. William Zepeda
Jaron “Boots” Ennis Vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr
the winner of the Arnold Barboza Vs. Jose Ramirez fight Vs. Jack Catterall
Jai Opetaia Vs. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (should Ramirez get past Chris Billam-Smith)
with one final fight to be determined, but possibly featuring Israil Madrimov and Oscar Duarte.
Fans would certainly be up for this card should it come off. But who wins? Hearn was gracious in defeat when Warren topped him big style, but would the Matchroom head be as gracious if he lost to De La Hoya, a man he recently referred to as “the biggest bell**d I’ve ever met?”
While if De La Hoya lost to Hearn, a man he says is not fit to be anything like an elite promoter, a man who he says has “ruined careers,” well, how would Oscar handle it?
We may find out in May!
