Oscar De La Hoya Calls Ring Magazine a Dead Asset as DAZN Eyes Takeover
De La Hoya says Turki Alalshikh destroyed Ring Magazine's credibility and is now trying to dump it.
Oscar De La Hoya is not holding back on what happened to Ring Magazine under Turki Alalshikh's ownership. The Golden Boy promoter called the publication a "dead asset" and accused the Saudi boxing czar of gutting its credibility, per Boxing News 24 and Bad Left Hook.
"They stripped it of its credibility and made it purely biased and propaganda," De La Hoya said. He urged whoever buys the magazine next to restore its rankings and editorial standards, both of which he says were compromised under Alalshikh's watch.
De La Hoya sold Ring Magazine to Alalshikh just a couple of years ago. Now reports indicate DAZN has agreed to acquire a controlling interest in the publication, though the streaming platform has not officially confirmed the deal.
De La Hoya framed the situation as evidence that Alalshikh is pulling back from boxing entirely. According to the Golden Boy founder, Turki shopping Ring Magazine is a signal that the Saudi investment era in boxing may be cooling off.
The broader question is whether DAZN ownership solves the credibility problem. Ring Magazine's rankings and belts carry historical weight in boxing, but editorial independence is difficult to maintain when the owner has direct financial interests in the sport. That challenge existed under Alalshikh and would persist under DAZN.
Oscar is right about one thing: Ring Magazine's credibility took a beating under Turki's ownership. When the guy writing the checks is also promoting the fights, the rankings stop meaning anything. Everybody in boxing knew it, and now Oscar is saying it out loud because it costs him nothing.
But let's not pretend Oscar is some guardian of journalistic integrity here. He sold Ring to Turki in the first place. He cashed the check and now he's dunking on the buyer for trashing what he sold. That takes a certain kind of audacity that only Oscar De La Hoya can pull off with a straight face.
If DAZN takes over, it's the same conflict wearing a different suit. DAZN promotes fights. DAZN would own the magazine that ranks the fighters in those fights. The letterhead changes; the problem doesn't. Ring Magazine needs an independent owner with no skin in the matchmaking game. Good luck finding that in 2026.
