“Stop F**king Around And Call Me”: Days After $2.2 Billion Network’s Announcement, Oscar De La Hoya Sends Urgent Message To Fellow Promoters

Showtime Sports is shutting down after serving for 37 years. The statement of Paramount Global that came out, suggested that the company is trying to deviate its focus from the sport of boxing. They’ve decided to concentrate on other sports, well this news sent a wave of discouragement across all the boxing promotional banners. Stephen Espinoza’s Showtime Boxing was one of the biggest banners in the sport.

Even the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, talked about this devastating news. Moreover, he even gave a solution to make things better for the sweet science, as Showtime being shut down is a big sign of something scary. De La Hoya asks for unity among promoters, and for that, he’s made a request publicly to his fellow boxing businessmen.

Oscar De La Hoya asks other promoters to call him

Stephen Espinoza made it clear that the shutting down of Showtime Sports by the end of the year is not a representation of their recent performance or anything to do with their past endeavors. He said, “Unfortunately, in a rapidly evolving media marketplace, the company has had to make difficult choices allocating resources, resetting priorities, and reshaping its content offering.”

Recently, Oscar De La Hoya made a post on X, about how the promoters need to come together during these dire straits. He believes that if they’re not together, then only the sport can thrive. In the post, he wrote, “Calling all promoters, this is why we must work together. The fans and the sport win!!!!! Stop f**king around and call me.”

Before this post, De La Hoya had addressed this situation and commended Showtime for doing everything they’ve done for the sport. At the same time, he has generated concern.

De La Hoya has been talking about this for a week now

Oscar De La Hoya was shocked to hear about the shutting down of Showtime Sports. Although Paramount Global has assured the fans that they’d actually fulfill every boxing fight they still planned on their slate, they won’t be hosting any boxing fights by the start of 2024. This struck a chord with De La Hoya in particular.

He instantly went on X to show his concern for the sport. He wrote, “I salute Showtime for their near-40-year commitment to the sport that I love.” Then he went to talk about the lack of unity among the boxing promoters, and how this needs to stop. Otherwise, it’ll make the sport suffer even more. Furthermore, he wrote, “I am hopeful that we promoters can use this unfortunate situation to put our differences aside and start working together more often to help make more of the bigger fights and grow our sport.”

Read More: Oscar de la Hoya Names ‘The Greatest of All Time’ Boxer Who Levels Muhammad Ali, and It’s Not Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao

Hopefully, this shutdown of a major company wouldn’t be the beginning of a downward trend for the competition. It’ll definitely hamper the sport, but there’ll be lessons for the other promotional banners to learn moving forward. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.

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