De La Hoya Tells Dana White to Stay Out of Boxing: 'Stick to Your Lane'

Oscar De La Hoya has never been one to whisper when a microphone is in front of him, and his latest sit-down with DAZN is the Golden Boy promoter at full volume. Speaking on Wednesday, De La Hoya declared that boxing would be "better off without Dana White," urging the UFC chief executive to abandon his boxing ambitions and "stick to his lane."

The remarks, published on October 21, are the sharpest yet in a promoter war that has simmered for years and boiled over in recent months as White's Zuffa Boxing has moved aggressively onto boxing's biggest stages.

"First of all, he doesn't belong in the sport," De La Hoya said of White. "The fact that they're trying to monopolize boxing just the way they did with the UFC, is not going fly with anybody. You're not going to erase the history of the sport of boxing, you're not going to erase the world titles that fighters want to fight for. You're not going to cheat the fighters from the monies they deserve like you do with the UFC."

It is a familiar De La Hoya line of attack, but the timing gives it teeth. White's Zuffa Boxing, backed by TKO Group and Saudi money, has put together some of the year's biggest cards — including the Ryan Garcia–Conor Benn event, where De La Hoya's own fighter headlined on White's show. De La Hoya did not attend that fight, saying he feared being set up or embarrassed over his seating and access; White disputed the account, insisting De La Hoya had a ticket, knew his seat and was expected to walk out with Garcia.

That personal grievance now sits inside a much bigger structural fight. White has argued for years that boxing is a broken, declining sport, and has pointed at promoters like De La Hoya as part of the problem. Zuffa is now also involved in promoting the long-awaited Tyson Fury–Anthony Joshua showdown on December 11, and legislation modeled on the UFC's business structure — the Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act, reported by MMA Mania to be working its way through the United States Senate — could redraw the economics of American boxing in White's image.

De La Hoya's counterargument is that boxing's traditions — its titles, its history, its fighter paydays — are precisely what White's model would destroy.

"I believe that Dana White should stick to his lane and do what he does best in the combat sport, on the UFC, and let us promoters who know what we're doing, do what we do," De La Hoya said. "That's it. We should all just stick in our lanes and do what we do best. Boxing will be better off without Dana White."

He is not alone in that corner. Earlier this month, De La Hoya appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and, in a turn that surprised even him, sided with his longtime rival Eddie Hearn in the Matchroom chairman's own feud with White. "I never thought I would say this, but I'm on Eddie's side… I have to say I am Team Eddie right now because he's cooking Dana," De La Hoya said, calling White "Uncle Fester" and arguing that the UFC boss is at best the third or fourth most powerful figure in Zuffa Boxing, with Turki Alalshikh controlling the money behind it.

Hearn, who promotes Joshua, has since aligned with De La Hoya in opposing White's effort to reshape the sport — an extraordinary sight given the two promoters' long and public mutual dislike.

The debate beneath the insults is real. As SportsGrid's coverage of the feud noted, the core disagreement is about matchmaking philosophy: the UFC model routinely puts its biggest names against each other in their primes without protecting undefeated records, while boxing has often been accused of marinating fights until the money peaks — Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, who finally met years after their primes overlapped, being the canonical example. White believes his influence can change how boxing matches are made from top to bottom; De La Hoya believes that influence would come at the fighters' expense.

It is also a fight about the future of DAZN, the broadcaster both men need. De La Hoya painted the current moment as an opportunity for boxing's established promoters to work together under the DAZN umbrella. "What it presents to Golden Boy is the best fighting the best. Now we can go to PBC, we can go to Eddie Hearn, we can go to any promoter under DAZN and make the best fights happen. That's music to my ears. That's what I've been preaching for years," he said.

And the 1992 Olympic gold medalist remains bullish on his own stable. "What excites me, being a promoter with this current roster, is this next generation of young talent is better than the actual one," he said, name-checking Josh Edwards, Darius Fulgham and Amari Jones — and newly crowned WBA lightweight champion Floyd Schofield. "Floyd Schofield is going to be a superstar. So every young fighter that we're promoting now is destined for greatness. Mark my words."

De La Hoya closed the interview with a look at his own legacy. Already an International Boxing Hall of Famer as a fighter, he wants the same honor as a promoter. "I see myself as a boxing Hall of Famer and I see myself as a boxing Hall of Famer as a promoter," he said. "So I have goals to accomplish as a promoter and I will hopefully be the first and hopefully last and only promoter to be in the Hall of Fame as a world champion."