For an event billed “Run It Back,” Oscar De La Hoya and his team ran into a storm of troubles. While the Golden Boy promotions kicked off the year’s first show at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, the lead-up to the event witnessed a bizarre incident when a fighter backed out, citing religious reasons, after his opponent missed weight. Even De La Hoya’s efforts to double the purse failed to convince him.

Already gutted by a spate of cancelled or rescheduled fights, the DAZN-streamed card underwent a name change when Alexis Rocha, who headlined alongside Raul Curiel, pulled out due to weight cut issues. But several eyebrows were raised when 23-year-old Jireh De Los Santos felt a divine persuasion to call off the fight against Joel Iriarte.

Religious stand ends bout on De La Hoya card

The events unfolded during the final weigh-ins of the show. On the undercard, Joel Iriarte was scheduled to face Jireh De Los Santos. Unfortunately, Iriarte, the Bakersfield, California-born fighter, missed the weight. It appears Oscar De La Hoya‘s Golden Boy Promotions tried to persuade him with a bigger purse and a comeback fight.

“As reported on @DAZNBoxing: The Joel Iriarte-Jireh De Los Santos fight is off after De Los Santos declined financial compensation for Iriarte missing weight,” Chris Mannix wrote. “I’m told Golden Boy offered to double his purse and give De Los Santos a comeback fight.”

Yet De Los Santos refused to budge. “De Los Santos, who is deeply religious, told GB that “God told him it was not safe,” Mannix added. At the final weigh-ins, while De Los Santos weighed 145.8 pounds, Iriarte tipped the scales at 150.4.

The duo shook hands ahead of their eight-round contest for the WBO Continental Gold welterweight championship.

A repeated problem for De Los Santos

De Los Santos was stepping into the fight as the heavy underdog. So it wasn’t long before Dan Rafael revealed an uncomfortable truth. Responding to Mannix’s tweet, the veteran boxing journalist wrote, “Probably wasn’t safe even if Iriarte was on weight.”

While there is clear historical precedent for fighters stepping away or rescheduling fights for faith-based reasons, in Jireh De Los Santos’s case, it may appear odd. The Edinburg, Texas-born fighter made his professional debut in 2021 and boasts a record of 14 wins against 2 losses and 2 draws.

Yet his resume is dotted with scrapped fights – though not all of it was due to his actions. Seven months ago, a fight against Emeka Nwokolo met with cancellation. Much earlier, in April, a fight against former interim champion Brian Mendoza faced a similar fate. Roughly a year before a bout with Charly Garcia was shelved.

For his opponent, the unbeaten Joel Iriarte, hopes of breaking into the welterweight top 15 rest on a potential appearance on the Ryan Garcia–Mario Barrios card on February 21.