REGIS Prograis hinted at retirement last night, or a possible move into bareknuckle boxing, after conceding a 12-round points decision to Jack Catterall in Manchester. Watching from afar, one man who was not as positive over Prograis’ dice-rolling visit to England was Oscar De La Hoya. The head of Golden Boy Promotions sent out a scathing message on how the New Orleans man’s career has been handled.
Understandably irked by Oscar’s low blow, when the message was relayed to Hearn, during the Catterall-Prograis post-fight press conference, Eddie had a candid response, mixing philosophy with insult: “The only thing I can say about Oscar De La Hoya is he’s got so much pain inside his heart, my thoughts and feelings are with him every single day. I hope that one day, he can find some happiness in his life.
“When we signed Regis Prograis, he headlined in New Orleans, defended his world title, made an absolute fortune. Then he had a mega fight with Devin Haney, made an absolute fortune, and then purely down to Regis Prograis, and I think he deserves so much respect for this, he chose to roll the dice in the UK against Jack Catterall. And Oscar De La Hoya is the biggest bellend I’ve ever met in my life.”
A quality fighter, now cutting his teeth as a strong online presence (often dishing out tongue-in-cheek remarks), Oscar has grown accustomed to engaging in some digital sparring with his promotional rivals.
“If he don’t respect fighters for trying to be great, because that’s what he says he was always trying to do, then the guy is the saltiest man on the earth, and he has so much pain inside his heart. I hope one day, as I said, Oscar De La Hoya can finally find peace and happiness in his life,” repeated Eddie Hearn.
