Oscar De La Hoya says Dana White “doesn’t belong in the sport” of boxing, and he put the fighter-pay charge in plain words: “You’re not going to cheat the fighters from the monies they deserve like you do with the UFC.” The comments were published Wednesday by Bad Left Hook and syndicated by Yahoo Sports.
What De La Hoya Said
- On White’s role: “he doesn’t belong in the sport.”
- On monopoly: “The fact that they’re trying to monopolize boxing just the way they did with the UFC, is not going fly with anybody.”
- On fighter pay: “You’re not going to cheat the fighters from the monies they deserve like you do with the UFC.”
- On promoters: “We should all just stick in our lanes and do what we do best.” The headline quote, per Bad Left Hook: “Boxing will be better off without Dana White.”
The Promoter Behind the Quote
De La Hoya also said he sees himself as a boxing Hall of Famer as a promoter, adding that he hopes to be “the first and hopefully last and only promoter to be in the Hall of Fame as a world champion.” He argued the next generation of fighters he promotes is “destined for greatness,” naming Floyd Schofield as a future superstar.
That context matters. De La Hoya is a rival promoter, so this is a competitor’s accusation, not an audit of UFC contracts. The claim that the UFC cheats fighters is his opinion; the article does not provide pay data to support it.
Why the Fighter-Pay Charge Lands Now
It arrives the same month Sean Strickland said the UFC doesn’t pay enough for fighters to walk away. Both comments come back to one issue this site tracks: UFC fighters are independent contractors with no pension and no collective bargaining agreement, so fighters and rival promoters keep disputing what they are owed. For the numbers, see our UFC fighter pay breakdown and UFC revenue share explained.
The Bottom Line
Oscar De La Hoya says Dana White doesn’t belong in boxing, that a UFC-style monopoly won’t fly, and that fighters would be cheated like UFC fighters are. It is a rival promoter’s opinion, not evidence, but it shows how the UFC’s pay model is now the main argument against its move into boxing.
Sources
- Bad Left Hook (SB Nation): Oscar De La Hoya on Dana White and boxing (Oct. 21, 2026)
- Yahoo Sports (SB Nation syndication): ‘We should all just stick in our lanes’: Oscar De La Hoya says boxing better off without Dana White (Oct. 21, 2026)