Oscar De La Hoya Explains How Zuffa Boxing Will 'Trojan Horse' Its Fighters

Despite Zuffa Boxing's recent landmark signings, Oscar De La Hoya remains unimpressed and unthreatened by Dana White's new promotion.

Since White announced the launch of Zuffa Boxing, De La Hoya has been unsurprisingly skeptical and critical of the promotion's every move. The new boxing league still managed to make a few surprising moves, namely its signing of pound-for-pound star Shakur Stevenson.

De La Hoya admitted that while the fighter signings have surprised him a little, he does not expect them to be a long-term investment. The 53-year-old said he views the fighters' current contracts as a "Trojan Horse" move in an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show.

Oscar De La Hoya | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

De La Hoya explains Zuffa Boxing's Trojan Horse

"I am [surprised by their recent signings], but I'm not, because they're offering these guys a lot of money for one-fight, two-fight, three-fight deals just to lure everybody in," De La Hoya said.

"But long-term, they're going to change the contracts. They're gonna lure you in just like the Trojan Horse, and they're gonna f--- you. That's the bottom line. That's exactly what happened to Shakur Stevenson. He went for the big money, and it's a shame."

In addition to Stevenson, Zuffa Boxing has also signed a handful of former world champions and rising stars, including Richardson Hitchins, Conor Benn, Jai Opetaia, Chris Billam-Smith, Jose 'Rayo' Valenzuela and Edgar Berlanga.

"[Zuffa Boxing] is offering these guys a lot of money, but long term, they're going to change the contracts. They're going to lure you in just like the Trojan horse, and they're going to f*** you. That's the bottom line.

That's exactly what happened with Shakur Stevenson."… pic.twitter.com/EjFNHzzWwP
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 27, 2026

White and De La Hoya are obligated to work together on their upcoming co-promotion of Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn in September. Zuffa Boxing appears to have most of the promotional rights, but as the promoter of the defending champion Garcia, De La Hoya will remain heavily involved.

But despite their collaboration, De La Hoya is not giving up on his criticism of White as a boxing promoter.

Oscar De La Hoya says Dana White has "no clue"

After calling out White's purported "Trojan Horse" move, De La Hoya continued bashing the UFC CEO, whom he claimed has "no clue" what he is doing as a boxing promoter.

"[Dana White] has no clue what he's doing," De La Hoya said. "He has no clue which fighters are under Zuffa. Maybe he's getting to know the sport, but he's not invested in this. He's all about the bottom line; that's it. Every fighter is a number to this organization because when you're part of a publicly traded company, it's all about the bottom line."

De La Hoya still admitted he feels that Turki Alalshikh has "chosen" White as his go-to promoter in the United States. Alalshikh has a majority stake in Zuffa Boxing via the Saudi entertainment company Sela.

"[Dana White] has no clue what he's doing. He has no clue which fighters are under Zuffa... Every fighter is a number to this organization because, when you're under a publicly traded company, it's all about the bottom line. That's exactly what I can see in the future.

These… pic.twitter.com/Cd1fRyceGv
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 27, 2026

It should not take long before White fires back with a few choice words of his own.

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