I asked Oscar De La Hoya today why his company, Golden Boy Promotions, is getting involved in mixed martial arts:
"Opportunity," De La Hoya said. "I think the opportunities are endless with mixed martial arts. The opportunity presented itself and it's a business. We're looking at it as a business, and under the Golden Boy umbrella, I think it fits in perfectly."
In theory, De La Hoya in MMA could be a perfect fit: De La Hoya is the best businessman in sports, and if there's anyone in the world capable of putting together a viable alternative to the UFC, it's him. He knows the fight game, the promotion game and the pay-per-view game. He could have a huge impact on the sport.
My only question is how devoted to MMA he is. De La Hoya loves boxing, and he certainly doesn't want to promote MMA at the expense of boxing. He also doesn't want to lose money on MMA, and it's hard to see how he could get an MMA promotion off the ground without losing some money at first.
If De La Hoya really believes the opportunities in MMA are so vast that he's willing to put all the money and muscle of Golden Boy Promotions behind the sport, he could have a huge impact. I just wonder if he's going to stay interested in MMA for long.
