De La Hoya Blasts ‘Arrogant’ Canelo For Not Working With The Saudis
Oscar De La Hoya has hit out at Canelo Alvarez for not working with Turki Alalshikh.
The Mexican was unhappy with the Saudis approaching him for the Terence Crawford fight. Canelo’s criticism was centered around the fact he was fully focused on facing Edgar Berlanga on September 14. Therefore, any discussion outside of that was seen as overlooking Berlanga. Canelo then dismissed facing Crawford, saying he had no interest in fighting a much smaller fighter.
The Mexican was clear that any cooperation had to be done on his terms. Alalshikh reacted by claiming Canelo wanted to take easier fights with unrealistic amounts of money. De La Hoya is working closely with the Saudis following their recent deal. Their first fight takes place between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk on August 10. De La Hoya hit out at Canelo for not working with the Saudis to make the biggest fights.
De La Hoya Reacts
“So it turns out, I’m not the only one who thinks Canelo is an arrogant piece of [rubbish]. Turki Alalshikh recently revealed that Canelo refused to meet with him in person, and isn’t entertaining any deals to be done with him.
“Why? Because he’s out-priced himself so much that the Saudis don’t even want to deal with him. And it’s all because he will do anything not to fight David Benavidez. Look, Turki is trying to make the best fights that everybody wants to see, and Canelo continues to take the fights that nobody wants to see,” De La Hoya said
However, De La Hoya appears to have done something similar. The WBC ordered Shakur Stevenson to face his mandatory opponent, William Zepeda. De La Hoya responded by saying that no one would tell his fighter who he should fight. Oscar also revealed that Shakur would only get that fight if he signed with Golden Boy Promotions. Stevenson is currently a free agent after leaving Top Rank.
Hearn On De La Hoya
That has created the narrative that De La Hoya is also preventing the biggest fights from being made. The introduction of the Saudis has allowed the biggest networks and promoters to work together. The Saudis also signed a deal with Top Rank, while they have strong relationships with Matchroom Boxing and Queensbury Promotions. While Canelo is big enough to work on his own, De La Hoya’s position stunts the growth of other fighters. Eddie Hearn was not happy towards Oscar’s approach.
“For me, I don’t really care for tying a fighter down for five fights or three years. If they like working with you, they like working with you. If they don’t, they don’t. Someone like Golden Boy and those kind of guys. They will only allow him [Shakur] to fight William Zepeda if he signs a long-term deal with them.
“He [Oscar De La Hoya] also said that he would only make the fight if he was with Golden Boy, which is a disgrace to boxing. This is from a guy who says promoters should work together and that the best should fight the best. Now, you can only get Zepeda if you’re with Golden Boy, which is bizarre. We’re [Matchroom Boxing] with the same platform [DAZN],” Hearn stated
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