Oscar De La Hoya was unimpressed by Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin's trilogy bout over the weekend, branding the event "a f***ing dud".
The boxing legend used to promote Alvarez, and put on a number of major events featuring the Mexican, including his previous two outings against long-time rival Golovkin. Those bouts ended in a decision victory for Alvarez and a draw, while Saturday night's bout was the most decisive outcome of the series, although the fight was at times a dull affair.
De La Hoya took to Twitter to slam the event in a now-deleted outburst, telling fans that Alvarez "could hold Bernard Hopkins' jock strap". The promoter parted ways with the pound-for-pound great in 2020, with Alvarez instead opting to join up with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing.
Since then, the former multiple-weight world champion has taken many opportunities to mock his ex-fighter. "The truth is everyone is afraid of speaking the truth," De La Hoya wrote. "The fight was a f***ing dud. GGG was old as f*** and Canelo can't hold Hopkins' jockstrap." He added a '#' sign to the end of the post, but elected against adding a hashtag.
It's not the first time De La Hoya has taken a shot at Alvarez, or his promoter Hearn, whose aggressive move into the American market irked his rivals who have occupied the space for years. Earlier this year, he took to Instagram comments to warn a young fighter that was being thought by the undisputed middleweight champion against taking his advice.
“Please, this guy does everything wrong," De La Hoya said under a training video. "Head up when he throws hooks. On his heels, flat-footed. What else? Oh, he avoids Charlo.” Alvarez hit back, saying "Oh really, you want me to talk? F***ing traidor [sic]!" He also added a second comment, telling his ex-promoter "Do me a favour and go f*** yourself" along with a series of emojis.
Do you believe that De La Hoya was right about the trilogy between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
De La Hoya declared shortly after that there was still a possibility of the pair reconciling, branding himself the top promoter in the world. He tagged Alvarez in a tweet which said “It isn’t too late (yet) to switch back to the best promoter.”
He has also insisted that Hearn doesn't know how to promote in America, and blasted him for getting his fighters such as Alvarez and Anthony Joshua beaten on US soil. The Brit has overseen three Joshua losses and a rare Alvarez one, but has also been keen to avoid them engaging in tune-up bouts as much as possible.
“The fact that the promoter of this event pushed Bivol on Canelo, it was the dumbest move in boxing history … it’s not knowing boxing.” De La Hoya said in an interview with USA Today Sports. “It was the stupidest move … whoever allowed Canelo to fight Bivol. I would’ve never allowed Canelo to fight Bivol.
“Look exactly at what happened. Canelo’s on the top of the world. He’s the king. Why fight a guy that if Canelo fights ten times, he loses ten times? And he has nothing to gain. Nothing to win. Nobody knew Bivol. It’s your job to guide a fighter’s career. It’s your job to know what’s the best move, to see what the biggest and best fight for his career is. This was a terrible fight for Canelo’s career."
