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http://www.boxingscene.com/de-la-hoya-focused-on-patching-things-up-with-arum--77067
Oscar De La Hoya was back in his role as the president of Golden Boy Promotions, leading Thursday's news conference to promote Saturday's triple-header at StubHub Center in Carson on Showtime.
Before the news conference, De La Hoya spoke about how he initiated a conversation with his former promoter and rival Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions recently.
"Absolutely," De La Hoya said. "It was a must. You know, I have a program that I'm following that is making me a bigger person, a better person, a person that is honest, a person that really just wants to make amends to whoever I owe amends to and I owe amends to Bob Arum. Bob Arum has been very instrumental in my career. I'm never going to forget about that. Now that we're promoters why not work together for the best and better of the fans of the sport? That's what we must do."
De La Hoya said he didn't talk about specific fights with Arum. Obviously, one of the biggest fights that could be made would be Manny Pacquiao, who is Top Rank's biggest star, vs. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who is Golden Boy Promotions's biggest star.
"What I'm doing is I've extended the olive branch (to Arum), you know, for the good of the sport, for the good of Golden Boy and Top Rank, and for the fans in general," De La Hoya said. "Why not? This is what has to be done. We're not talking about fights right now. We're just making that cordial introduction once again to each other and we're saying, 'Hey, let's let the past be the past. Let's work together for the sport.'"
Golden Boy and Top Rank haven't co-promoted a major fight in five years.
"I can't think about the past. I can't live in the future, but I want to live right now. And right now is extending that olive branch for the better of the sport. You know, let's make these fights happen. Why not? The fans deserve it. The fans want to see these fights. Let's do it. I'm telling Bob Arum, 'Hey, we can do this.' I want to give him a hug and tell him, 'Hey, thank you. Thank you for what you did throughout my whole career.' I haven't done that. I'm going to do it. And then, maybe, who knows what happens after that."
Despite De La Hoya's push for a positive relationship with Arum, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has stated in several interviews on BoxingScene that he doesn't have any interest in having a working relationship with Arum.
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