De La Hoya questioned the direction Wilder’s career has gone since the WBC champion left to be part of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions stable, something DiBella, who now represents the American puncher, obviously doesn’t agree with.
“I promoted Deontay Wilder’s first 33 fights and made him a champion,” pointed out De La Hoya in a social media post. “If I was his promoter he would be a star and Anthony Joshua would be begging for the fight and not the other way around,” he added.
DiBella came back firing, by questioning what, if any, influence De La Hoya had on Wilder’s path to the top of the sport.
“What a joke you are, De La Hoya. Nearly all of 33 fights in total obscurity. What exactly did you do?” asked DiBella before labelling the Hall of Famer a ‘hater’ and accussing him of ‘tripping’ on Wilder’s success.
Golden Boy’s Robert Diaz, who works alongside De La Hoya at the promotional giants, then leaped to the defence of the former multi-weight world title holder.
“What did we do? Well we only scouted him, signed him and taken him from zero to champion in five years,” said Diaz.
“Besides, why do you even get involved you are not even his promoter so you should sit back and enjoy the ride and make a fee.
“It wasn’t his people or Wilder, it was bigger. We have mad love respect for him and his team. Deontay Wilder knows it!”
Now that Wilder stands of the verge of making a career-high purse in the millions against UK star Anthony Joshua, it seems the previously innocuous break-up harbors way more animosity than first thought.
Should Wilder eventually go on to unify the division, De La Hoya’s feeling of ‘what if’ could become exceedingly harder to deal with in the future.
Phil Jay is Editor of World Boxing News. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
