Oscar’s Latest Fight Is Arum Versus King

Oscar De La Hoya fighting for Don King?

Promoter Bob Arum says it isn’t going to happen. He has a contract with the fighter.

Surely, King would respect another man’s contract.

Surely, you jest.

After De La Hoya attended the Evander Holyfield-Michael Moorer heavyweight championship fight a few weeks ago, King, a grin on his face, said, “If [De La Hoya] visits me one or two more times, rest assured, I will have Oscar.”

There is no indication that De La Hoya is considering breaking ties with Arum, the man who has made him a multimillionaire, but then, there was no indication that Muhammad Ali was considering King rather than Arum as promoter of Ali’s memorable fight against George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. Five million dollars changed Ali’s mind.

Recently, King persuaded Johnny Tapia, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization junior bantamweight champion, to join his empire at year’s end, when Tapia’s deal with Arum expires.

CAUGHT IN THE

CROSS-FIRE?

Emanuel Steward is hot.

But not over getting fired by De La Hoya last week. One of the most respected trainers in the business, Steward has had more than his share of great fighters and will be in Lennox Lewis’ corner if and when Lewis and Holyfield fight for the undisputed heavyweight title next spring.

And not over criticism of his training methods. Steward has long since proved the wisdom of his ways.

No, Steward is hot about the insinuation that he tried to steal De La Hoya from Arum and deliver him to King.

Steward labels Arum “paranoid” for having such a thought.

“It’s ridiculous,” Steward said. “I was shocked when I heard it. I have never been known to steal a fighter in my life. No one I’ve worked for has ever had problems like that with me. That’s a serious thing to say about me. It could hurt my reputation.

“For someone who has been around that long to be that paranoid is hard to believe. “

Arum says it’s difficult to believe Steward thinks Arum is worried about the trainer taking De La Hoya away from him.

“If he thinks that, then I should be accusing him of insanity,” Arum said. “For one thing, Oscar is tremendously loyal. And for another, I have a contract with him for the next five years.”

Nevertheless, Steward said he had heard from De La Hoya himself that Arum was furious when he learned that his star fighter was ringside several weeks ago at Holyfield-Moorer, a King production.

“I don’t know if [Arum] felt that Oscar was at that fight to meet King or what,” Steward said. “They never even saw each other. They never talked.

“Oscar said he had never been to a heavyweight championship fight and he wanted to go.”

Arum concedes that De La Hoya’s presence at the Holyfield-Moorer fight was a factor in Steward’s dismissal, but insists it wasn’t because of De La Hoya’s proximity to King. Arum said that Steward’s taking his fighter to Las Vegas, breaking training camp in the midst of preparation for De La Hoya’s Dec. 6 fight against Wilfredo Rivera, infuriated both Arum and Mike Hernandez, De La Hoya’s closest advisor.

“We didn’t feel he should come to Vegas in the middle of training,” Arum said. “Emanuel refused to follow the chain of command. Everything is supposed to be funneled through Mike Hernandez. That’s what I do when I want Oscar to do something. Emanuel wanted to do things on his own that were not cleared. He thought he could just pull this kid out. He thought he was his fighter.”

“But this had nothing to do with Don King. That’s stupid.”

Steward has said he clashed with De La Hoya’s father, Joel, over training methods and Hernandez said there was concern that Steward was too busy with other fighters, including Lewis, to give De La Hoya his full attention. Arum said both issues were factors in the firing.

“[Steward] was not spending the time required for a man receiving $250,000 a fight,” Arum said. “And both Joel De La Hoya and [trainer] Roberto [Alcazar] said that Steward was lackadaisical in his training methods.”

AND FINALLY

Two-time heavyweight George Foreman, 48, fights 25-year-old Shannon Briggs tonight in Atlanta City, N.J. Also on the card is unbeaten, 24-year-old David Reid, the 1996 Olympic light middleweight champion, who will be seeking his sixth victory since turning pro when he faces Dan Connolly in a 10-round match.