Oscar De La Hoya returned to his weekly Clap Again Thursday phase after testifying in Washington and used the platform to stage direct accusations at TKO Group Holdings, claiming the corporate secured Home passage of the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act by bribery.
The Golden Boy Promotions chairman testified on April 22 earlier than the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee alongside Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, in opposition to H.R. 4624. Additionally testifying have been TKO board member and WWE president Nick Khan and Timothy Shipman, the president of the Affiliation of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports activities. The invoice, which might create a brand new class of entity known as a Unified Boxing Group, handed the Home by voice vote on March 24.
The Bribery Declare
De La Hoya opened the phase by addressing how the invoice cleared the Home with none fighters being heard.
“TKO’s proposed amendments handed simply by the Home with out ever even listening to from a fighter. How is that doable? They’re taking bribes,” De La Hoya mentioned.
He provided no documentation or named supply for the bribery allegation within the video. TKO has not responded publicly to the declare.
De La Hoya then turned to Khan’s Senate testimony, calling the WWE president a “snake oil salesman” and disputing a number of of the protections Khan mentioned the invoice would introduce.
“Minimal pay of $200 per spherical, we’re already doing that. Obligatory damage insurance coverage, they already do. Standardized medical protocols for each boxer, annual mind MRIs, cardiac testing, mind well being testing, they’re already due,” De La Hoya mentioned. “Giving boxers a real path to free company, window dressing.”
The invoice establishes assured pay between $150 and $200 per spherical and a minimal of $25,000 in medical protection for fight-related accidents.
“Walked Right into a Buzzsaw”
De La Hoya described the listening to room as hostile from the second witnesses arrived.
“It was instantly clear the Senators already had their agenda,” he mentioned, citing Senator Bernie Moreno’s query about bringing WrestleMania to Cleveland. Sports activities Illustrated famous that solely three of the 28 senators on the Commerce Committee attended the listening to in particular person.
In a separate post-hearing video, De La Hoya mentioned the proceedings “felt scripted” and that Chairman Ted Cruz spoke earlier than the listening to a couple of current UFC occasion he attended with President Donald Trump. Yahoo Sports activities reported these feedback earlier within the week.
Warning to Fighters Contemplating Zuffa
De La Hoya spent the again half of the phase warning lively fighters about what he characterised because the structural realities of signing with a TKO-controlled boxing entity.
“You guys now have a selection, whether or not to battle for the unicorn belt or keep within the present system that has labored for 100-plus years,” he mentioned. “Or you may go to a dictatorship who treats you as a quantity since you don’t matter all that a lot to them.”
He claimed to have reviewed a contract from a fighter who has already signed with Zuffa Boxing.
“I noticed a contract from a fighter who already regrets signing with Zuffa, and it’s horrific,” De La Hoya mentioned. “They make fighters pay for their very own medicals. If you happen to lose, they determine how a lot to pay you. You received’t know till after the very fact.”
He additionally referenced TKO’s $375 million antitrust settlement with former UFC fighters.
What Comes Subsequent
The Senate Commerce Committee has not but scheduled a markup or vote on H.R. 4624. Cruz indicated in the course of the listening to that the Senate model will possible differ from what the Home handed.
De La Hoya closed the phase by telling viewers, “You’re by no means a hater when you solely communicate the information.”
The total video is accessible on De La Hoya’s official Fb web page, the place new Clap Again Thursday episodes are posted weekly. For a fuller account of the listening to itself and the dynamic between the 4 witnesses, see the BoxingInsider column Mr. De La Hoya Goes to Washington.
