De La Hoya: If I Had Wilder - He'd Be a Star, Joshua Would Beg
By Miguel Rivera
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya threw a tremendous verbal hook at the working team behind WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs).
De La Hoya's company had promoted Wilder's first 33 fights and took him to a world title.
Their relationship ended in January of 2015, after Wilder captured the WBC title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Bermane Stiverne at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Their relationship broke apart after Wilder's main manager, Al Haymon, parted ways with Golden Boy. Haymon parted ways with Golden Boy and took his entire stable of fighters to jump-start his Premier Boxing Champions banner, which staged their first event in March of the same year.
Since leaving Golden Boy, Wilder has made six defenses of the titles - with victories against Stiverne, Eric Molina, Artur Szpilka, Johann Duhaupas, Gerald Washington and Chris Arreola. Planned defenses against Alexander Povetkin and Luis Ortiz fell apart due to failed pre-fight drug tests.
At the moment, one of the biggest fights in the sport is a heavyweight unification between Wilder and IBF, IBO, WBA world champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) of the UK.
Wilder, who last Saturday night demolished Stiverne in the first round of their mandated rematch, has been actively chasing Joshua for a unification showdown.
De La Hoya believes Wilder should be a lot bigger right now. He says Golden Boy would have made him into a superstar by this point, and Joshua would be the one chasing Wilder for a fight and not the other way around.
"I promoted Deontay Wilder during his first 33 fights and I made him a champion. If I were his promoter, he would be a star and Anthony Joshua would beg for the fight and not the way it is happening right now," said De La Hoya to ESPN Deportes.
If Wilder is unable to get Joshua in the ring, one of the frontrunners to face him in the first quarter of the New Year is Dominic Breazeale.
