Needless to say, there’s no love lost between Canelo Alvarez and boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya.
Recently, De La Hoya weighed in on the drama surrounding Alvarez and Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia and the man responsible for the recent boom in boxing that has seen some of the sport’s biggest fights finally come to fruition.
Following Terence Crawford’s win over Israil Madrimov to become a four-weight world champion, Alalshikh expressed interest in booking a bout between Crawford and Alvarez for a future Riyadh Season event. There were also rumblings of a matchup between ‘Canelito’ and undefeated multi-division champion David Benavidez. Unfortunately, neither of those fights seems to be in the works after Alvarez priced himself out, asking for a whopping $200 million to face Benavidez and completely dismissing a matchup with Crawford.
As a result, Alalshikh has dropped all interest in working with Alvarez.
De La Hoya, who previously worked with Alvarez under his Golden Boy Promotion’s banner before an anything but amicable split, chimed in on the situation and dubbed Alvarez an “arrogant piece of sh*t” for refusing to work with Alalshikh.
“So it turns out, I’m not the only one who thinks Canelo is an arrogant piece of sh*t,” De La Hoya said in a video on X. “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.”
Alvarez will return to the squared circle for a fight with Edgar Berlanga on Saturday, September 14—the same night as UFC 306 when the promotion makes its highly anticipated debut at Sphere.
The double booking in Sin City has been a source of frustration for UFC CEO Dana White and fight fans who enjoy watching both combat sports. In the end, De La Hoya believes it will be Alvarez who ultimately suffers as there is far more hype surrounding the Noche UFC card than the Guadalajara native’s fight with Berlanga.
“And as I said weeks ago, this fight will not do well on Sept. 14,” he added. “Not only because the matchup is OK, but because they’re going up against the UFC’s debut at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Now that’s a spectacle that everyone and their mother has been waiting to see since it opened up about a year ago. And who is funding it and making it all happen? Turki Alalshikh.”
Clap Back Thursday time!!! Hey DUCKNELO 👏👏👏😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Y1UWRFjmah
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) August 9, 2024
De La Hoya Says Terence Crawford Would Make Canelo Alvarez ‘Look Like a Child’ in Potential Clash
Even if Canelo Alvarez does come around—at least when it comes to fighting Terence Crawford—De La Hoya believes it would be a very bad matchup for the Mexican boxing star.
“Terence Crawford will beat Canelo anytime,” he told Sean Zittel. “I’ve said before the big talented man will always beat the smaller talented fighter – but Terence Crawford is not small, Crawford is a big guy, he can walk about at 168 if he wants to. If this fight is made at 164 then Terence Crawford all day.
Based on skillset alone, Crawford is a master and will make Canelo look like a child. From an expert fighter’s view, Crawford will beat him in a masterclass all day.”
Oscar De La Hoya says “I changed my mind” about a potential Canelo-Crawford matchup, but asks Canelo “What’s up dude?”
“Canelo is afraid of Benavidez…200 million, you’re crazy. In other words, you don’t want the fight…I’m trying to think of an excuse.” #Boxing pic.twitter.com/erkDyE2jdd
— Sean Zittel (@Sean_Zittel) August 8, 2024
In conclusion, De La Hoya urged Alvarez to reconsider his position and embrace the opportunity to work with Alalshik before getting in one final insult.
“Canelo, you’re really making the wrong enemies,” De La Hoya said. “But you know what? F*ck you.”
