Boxing Legend Oscar De La Hoya Recalls Jay-Z Losing Six-Figure Bet to Him: ‘A Guy Who Pays His Bets’

When it’s hot, Jay-Z gets on his money spot, but he’s also apparently willing to pay up when it’s time. Retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya recently recalled the time Jay allegedly lost a six-figure bet to him on a fight, and quickly cleared his debt.

De La Hoya joined Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay earlier this week where they rehashed the Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez fight in November 2015, which saw Canelo come out the victor and reminded him of the bet he made with Hov.

“So we’re promoting Canelo at the time, Golden Boy, and [Jay-Z’s] promoting Cotto,” he said. “So I said, ‘You know what? Why don’t place a bet here of $250,000? But it goes to charity.”

The 51-year-old De La Hoya said Jay paid up on the spot and there were no issues with the money transfer following his loss with a portion going to charity.

“So Canelo wins, my charity wins the two-fifths, and sure enough he paid it on the spot,” De La Hoya continued. “I think the next day the cheque was in the bank. Jay-Z loves boxing, he knows his boxing. But he’s a guy who pays his bets.”

Now, there’s a discrepancy on the amount of the six-figure wager. De La Hoya remembers it as a quarter-million payout while TMZ reported in 2015 that it was just a $100,000 bet.

“Thanks to Jay-Z, thousands of patients at White Memorial Medical Center will also be winners,” Oscar said at the time. “I don’t imagine [Jay’s] excited about losing $100,000, but he can take some comfort in knowing that it’s going to a good cause.”

Canelo Alvarez walked away the unanimous winner after the 12-round bout came to close. The official judges’ scorecards gave Canelo the edge 119–109, 118–110 and 117–111.

Watch the clip below.