De La Hoya on Mosley Leaving: "It's a Slap in The Face!"

By Robert Morales/Boxing Scene

The President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, is not happy with Shane Mosley at the moment. Mosley was promoted by Golden Boy for five years, but recently announced he was a free agent and could fight for the promoter of his choosing. The way De La Hoya sees it, he made Mosley millions of dollars and he's upset Mosley walked.

"I feel hurt by it," De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com. "I mean, obviously, I don't really let my personal feelings get in the way of the job we have to do. We want to do the best job possible for the fighters. When fighters do things like that, it hurts. It's sad because they don't realize what we've accomplished for them. There's a lot of work and you put a lot of energy into it and then you get slapped in the face."

Efforts to reach Mosley were unsuccessful. But the thinking in the industry is he left Golden Boy - in which he apparently still holds stock - to get the fight with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Since there is ongoing animosity between Golden Boy and Top Rank, who promote Pacquiao, Mosley's chances of fighting Pacquiao are considerably greater if Golden Boy is not involved.

De La Hoya's company is pushing very hard to get Juan Manuel Marquez a third fight with Pacquiao, but Bob Arum, CEO for Top Rank, says Mosley is the likely candidate to land the fight. Arum believes Mosley is a more marketable opponent than Marquez.

"I think Mosley is more marketable, but that's my opinion," Arum said to BoxingScene. "I think Mosley is someone who even non-boxing fans know. Everyone knows Shane Mosley."

Mosley's recent run has been far from spectacular. In his past two fights, he was dominated by Mayweather on May 1, and he did not look terrific in a draw with light-hitting Sergio Mora on a September 18.

The fight with Mora, which took place at Staples Center, also featured rising Mexican star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. The event drew 13,591, but De La Hoya said most of those fans were there to see Alvarez. De La Hoya calls Arum's logic of Mosley "being more marketable" as an excuse to avoid a third fight with Marquez.

"This is my take on Bob Arum saying that Mosley has more of a household name," De La Hoya said. "Mosley's last pay-per-view in September, I think he drew about a thousand people and `Canelo' drew about 10,000 people. And I think `Canelo' drew probably 95 percent of the pay-per-view.

"So Bob Arum is saying, `Well, Mosley's a more credible opponent because he's more marketable.' That's not true, that's not true at all. Marquez is the fighter who everybody knows and who everybody wants to see against Pacquiao."

While Arum appears high on Mosley at the moment, he was far from impressed when Mosley fought to a draw with Mora in September. In fact, on this very website, Arum downplayed Mosley's marketability as a future Pacquiao opponent.

“Look, he’s going to be 40 and he’s in the lighter weights where speed is so important. He’s on a show with guys old enough to be his son. I read them saying Mosley was huffing and puffing for air in the fourth or fifth round,” stated Arum. “To me, that is the real tipoff for an aging fighter. Even Big George Foreman did that in his 40s but he always had that big, big punch like in the (Michael) Moorer fight."

“It’s like Hopkins, he still knows how to fight but who wants to pay to see him now? His fights are not very scintillating. What you see with Hopkins we’re beginning to see with Mosley. I guess Shane needs the money due to his matrimonial situation. I’ve always considered Shane to be a nice guy but this is what happens to fighters when they age."

Robert Morales covers boxing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram and BoxingScene.com