Will MMA Fans Embrace the Golden Boy?

by Michael Rome on Jan 28, 2009 10:05 AM EST in News Comment 35 comments

There's an interesting (and annoying) article up over at ESPN about De la Hoya's involvement in MMA.

A number of boxing characters comment on the sport. Let's start off with scumbag number one, Gary Shaw:

"Oscar is not into MMA," Shaw said. "He can't sit there and tell you anything about the moves or strategies that these guys are using. Oscar is not into MMA, and the people who are in MMA are haters. They will never accept him. Oscar won't be able to overcome that."

After quoting Gary, whose only experience with MMA is blowing a bunch of money and making a mockery of the sport, we turn to Bob Arum:

I really don't enjoy or like MMA," Arum said. "It's ludicrous. It's not skillful...actually, I find it offensive. The guys can't punch. They get on the floor and it looks like two guys humping each other.

Besides this idiotic statement, Arum points out it will be very hard to go in and compete with UFC, and he expects Oscar to lose a lot of money. At the very least, he proved here that being ignorant doesn't necessarily mean you're an idiot.

Finally, we get to Oscar:

De La Hoya said he has been following MMA for about a year and finds it interesting.

"I respect any type of fighter," De La Hoya said. "Being in the ring is a tough gig."

I am only a casual fan of boxing. I watch big fights and occasional HBO specials. Given that, I still thought Oscar going nuts during the main event at Affliction was pretty cool.

Gary Shaw is delusional if he thinks Oscar's main obstacle is being an outsider. If anything, the man is very well-respected in MMA circles. Gary can call MMA fans haters all he wants, but I have no doubt that boxing hardcores hate MMA a lot more than MMA hardcores hate boxing. In fact, I'm aware of UFC research showing the boxing/MMA crossover is much stronger among hardcore MMA fans than casual fans.

Gary Shaw wants Oscar to fail or quit because he needs an excuse for his own failure. The real reason for his failure is a lot like the reason for most people's failures. He did a god-awful job and paid the price for it.

-- photo via Showtime

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There's One Big Difference

De La Hoya is all class. Gary Shaw is scum of the earth.

by nitro on Jan 28, 2009 1:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

why do ESPN guys get to right this stuff?

by blackzag05 on Jan 28, 2009 1:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

write*

by blackzag05 on Jan 28, 2009 1:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Gary Shaw wants Oscar to fail or quit because he needs an excuse for his own failure.

yep you hit it right on the spot.. He calls MMA fans haters because lots of people hated on him.. Its not really cause he’s from a boxing background, its just that cause he sucked and did stupid things with elitexc.. If he was really a good promoter, regardless of what sport he comes from, he wouldnt get that much hate from people. Deep inside he’s hoping oscar fails so that he gets an excuse for failing so bad with elitexc..

And arum, he’s just an old (literally and figuratively) school boxing guy, its really hard to convince him to like mma, so i dont take those comments against him..

http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/

by Anton Tabuena on Jan 28, 2009 1:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Does anyone have an image of de la Hoya at Affliction? I heard about it, but must have missed it.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Jan 28, 2009 2:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

watch the fedor fight. He had an OMFG moment after the KO.

http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/

by Anton Tabuena on Jan 28, 2009 2:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

by smoogy on Jan 28, 2009 2:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My Hero!

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Jan 28, 2009 2:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Unwanted baggage

Wasn’t it ODLH that brought Ibarra to Affliction?

by Flying Gogoplata on Jan 28, 2009 2:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think Ibarra is at all Cali events as a cutman.

He was at EliteXC events too.

by zeroword on Jan 28, 2009 11:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oscar would be in for one hell of a challenge. His name will catch the attention of casual viewers. But he needs to find pay structure that will keep his promotion relevant and his talent from defecting.

Showtime seems to have a real hard-on to broadcast MMA. Golden Boy could probably broker a more lucrative contract compared to another MMA promoter (outside UFC) who might only be given the experimental contract.

by bignerd on Jan 28, 2009 3:23 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

From my point of view, DLH at MMA events just generates more interest in the sport… At no point has DLH ever said he knew a lot about the sport, but that he’s only started following it for a year – so that gives him some credibility there.

Disregardless of what he’s paid or whatever, he ‘chose’ to be at an MMA event under his banner, while there was a boxing event down the road.

by constantin3 on Jan 28, 2009 7:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

~~Disregardless~~ Regardless of what he’s paid or whatever, he ‘chose’ to be at an MMA event under his banner, while there was a boxing event down the road.

Better.

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Jan 28, 2009 9:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Its a word!

Bah… thats what I get for being hungover.

by constantin3 on Jan 28, 2009 10:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It depends, there are a bunch of fans that will embrace him because he isn’t Dana, and they get overly excited over every new org that’s going to come along and “kill the UFC.”

I’ll embrace him if he show’s that he’s actually trying. Yes, he showed up this weekend, but it really didn’t seem like that big of a deal. If he starts treating MMA the way he treats the boxing matches he promotes, I’ll support him, otherwise, he’ll jus tbe another guy trying to get in on the money train without really doing anything.

by Phildo on Jan 28, 2009 7:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

If he believes he can make money and make up for any revenues he’s losing from the waning interest in boxing, he will become quite involved in mma.

At this point it seems like he’s testing the waters but doesn’t want to lay out very much, if any, of his own money.

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Jan 28, 2009 9:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly, I’ll embrace him when he actually does something. There’s no sense in getting over excited before he actually jumps in.

by Phildo on Jan 28, 2009 9:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He ain’t losing money in boxing. That train keeps on chugging. Yes, they rely on more super fights now the buys they get are astounding.

by bignerd on Jan 28, 2009 1:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You’re quite right – I didn’t mean to say that he was losing money – he’s not. But his “universe” for generating money is shrinking.

Yes the superfights are bringing in the big money, but they’re a shrinking pool, not a growing one – so it’s not a sustainable long-term business model. Thus he’s looking into mma to see if it’s a fad or for real and he’ll invest money when he’s convinced he can make more money there than concentrating on other boxing fights.

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Jan 28, 2009 3:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I dunno if it’s a shrinking pool. I used to believe that. It was Oscar, Hopkins, Lennox and Mayweather I figured it would not last after that. Now we have Hatton, Margarito, Paciao and Calzaghe, they completely reloaded.

by bignerd on Jan 28, 2009 3:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now we have ~~Hatton,~~ ~~Margarito~~, Paciao and ~~Calzaghe~~, they completely reloaded.

Golden Boy promotes Pacquio only. He may get pieces of the other fights, but it’s not like he controls all of the fighters available for the superfights.

And you can only put so many combinations of these guys together. Not to mention, if/when Hatton loses next he’s useless to the US audience.

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Jan 28, 2009 4:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like Gary Shaw’s reasoning. Who cares if he doesn’t yet know the moves or stratagies. Oscar has his hands many different things, so it’s not like he has a ton of time to learn all things MMA. Besides, it’s not like MMA is all that complicated, a guy with his fighting background can figure it out in due time, assuming Gary Shaw is correct in the first place.

Yeah, who got the final Death Blow? 'Cause I thought that Hawaiian guy had it comin' to him. - C. K.

by monkeyfightclub! on Jan 28, 2009 9:32 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Assuming Gary Shaw is correct is a hell of an assumption…

by iiowyn on Jan 28, 2009 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

De la hoya is a smart bussiness man

Gay re Shaw comes across like a first rate scumbag. Who is he to say Oscar isn’t that into MMA? Wasn’t he the one who said he hated the grappling side of MMA? Why is he still even relevant? How many fighters and their families are hurting by being stuck in Elite XC limbo because of this organization? What about Donald Trump, also a huge boxing supporter? They see the potential. MMA has so many different levels. Lampley and company don’t like mma because no one wants to hear them commenting on it and MMA is a threat to their pay check. Boxing is like rabbit ears on cable. MMA is HD Plasma. There is soo much more to it than boxing. Benicio Thanks for the new name. I love it.

by son of miss the mark on Jan 28, 2009 9:46 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Note to ESPN, getting your info on the MMA community from Gary Shaw is a real sign of your character…

Since when has the majority of the MMA community said “Boxers can GTFO!” never. We have former boxers fighting in MMA and we don’t judge them any differently. Hell, you hear the commentors complimenting the fighters hands and talking about KO power because he was a boxer. While boxing announcers talk shit before going to the old folks home to get their diapers changed…

Who’s the “gated community”?

On one final note…Gary Shaw can suck my lefty, righty is for $kala. Douchebags.

by kyfm621 on Jan 28, 2009 10:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oscar is a smart business man

Gay re shaw is a first class scum bag. Who is he to say Oscar isn’t that into MMA. Isn’t he the guy who said he hated the grappling side of MMA. Isn’t the company he was a huge part of responsible for many MMA fighters and families being stuck in limbo locked into contracts with a zombie corp. Screw him. Why is he still even relevant? How about Donald Trump also a huge supporter of boxing. is he not a fan? Who cares what those old boxing commentators think. They know that it is a threat to their pay checks. Don’t think they wont be on the forefront in the attempt to ban the sport when someone dies in the cage/ring. Boxing is like Analog T.V. MMA is HD Digital. IT has soo many more dimensions. Benicio thanks for the new name , Classic I love it.

by son of miss the mark on Jan 28, 2009 10:08 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

sorry I didn' think it posted.

My bad I missed the mark again I thought what I had to say was soo important I had to say it twice. I’m a tool just like Gay re i guess. LOL

by son of miss the mark on Jan 28, 2009 10:14 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Shaw finds it hard to understand that MMA fans can like Oscar (a boxer) and not like him or Arum (boxing promoters). It’s fairly easy to tell why one gets praise and the other two scorn.

by Luke Thomas on Jan 28, 2009 10:27 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

That's exactly it...

what most people see as being “wrong” with the sport of boxing isn’t the boxers…it’s the scummy promoters and sanctioning bodies.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Jan 28, 2009 10:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oscar is good for mma, imo.

He is a well spoken, good looking guy that people love, thus The Golden Boy. having a popular, Olympian involved with promoting mma, can only lend legitimacy to the sport, when trying to reach the masses, big time advertisers, investors and networks. He may not understand the sport 100%, but he understands the business side. Even if Affliction doesn’t work out, I hope he does continue his involvement.

The problem is ignorant statements from guys like Shaw, Arum and most authors of articles pertaining to mma in the mainstream. This is just a matter of time and these guys are running out of it. They don’t understand the sport and don’t want to, but they are dinosaurs and will fade away soon.

I think it is hilarious that they make these kind of statements, when boxing has been about the most corrupt sport out there, from fighters up to promoters. Margarito gets caught cheating and it is swept under teh rug for the most part. I doubt that would have been the case if it had been a UFC fight.

If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.

by BJJDenver on Jan 28, 2009 11:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs