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Report: Oscar De La Hoya shuts the door on California hosting Canelo vs. Golovkin fight
By Zach Arnold | May 24, 2017
Oscar De La Hoya claimed Magic Johnson made him an offer to host the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight at Dodger Stadium. Tom Loeffler trolled a few days later at a U2 concert at the Rose Bowl by claiming the Rose Bowl would be a good venue for the fight.
In the end, it was predictable gaslighting.
“It’s between Dallas and Las Vegas, so I have my meetings set already all this week and next week and hopefully I can have an answer for you in a few days.”
Both locations have no state income tax. Neither location has a 5% events tax like the city of Los Angeles or a 13% state income tax like California.
The consolation prize for the state of California will be Miguel Cotto vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai on 8/26 at StubHub Center. Golden Boy will promote that event.
The reaction to this news in Sacramento will not go over well. The Athletic Commission is fighting to increase it’s spending authority in the Governor’s hotly contested budget. Athletic Commission chairman John Carvelli, a wheeler and dealer in the dental business (Liberty Dental), has spent significant money on lobbying over the state’s Denti-Cal program for children.
Important political power brokers in Sacramento wanted the Canelo/Golovkin fight badly. The Athletic Commission and Consumer Affairs have spent the last year lobbying specifically for this fight. Tom Loeffler even received a ceremonial award from the AC. He knows how sensitive of an issue this is.
There will be internal tension at Consumer Affairs in Sacramento over this development. Andy Foster has done the best job he can to try to navigate the shark-infested waters with top politicians in the state Legislature always trying to get their hands into the AC’s business affairs. UFC has greatly helped him out with lobbying via Tim Lynch at Platinum Advisors. Even with that as the backdrop, there will be palpable disappointment and anger among Democratic leaders — specifically Southern California Democrats — who strongly believe that Canelo should be fighting his biggest fight in Los Angeles.
In yesteryear, a power player like Tim Leiweke would have gotten involved and bought the fight for Staples Center. Leiweke moved onto the Toronto Raptors and Staples isn’t buying fights like they used to. Without men like Tim Leiweke, the Athletic Commission has no juice to get an A-level boxing match. The false promises of tax breaks and empty sloganeering in pamphlets isn’t going to cut it. That won’t stop political leaders in Sacramento from applying pressure via interrogation on why they couldn’t get the fight they believe was owed to them as a God-given right.
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
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