“Doesn’t Mean You’re Going to Get a Divorce”- Oscar De La Hoya Sends a Message to Canelo Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez and the Golden Boy Promotions parted ways when they failed to resolve their contractual turmoil. Initially, both sides tried to work it out. However, Canelo appeared eager to enter the ring and took a quick exit from his former promotion.

Being one of the biggest superstars in the sport, Canelo Alvarez is a huge PPV attraction. So, Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya is certainly not pleased with the split up.

De La Hoya claims to have had a good relationship with him, and parting ways have hurt his feelings. Despite this, ‘The Golden Boy’ is still optimistic about rebuilding his promotion, especially as he has plenty of young superstars on the books. This includes the WBC silver lightweight champion, Ryan Garcia.

That said, De La Hoya claims to have predicted the dispute. He connected with Boxing Scene to discuss his promotional stunts and how the spilt with Canelo affected him.

De La Hoya said, “I’ve weathered the storm like you have no idea. You had people trying to get us out of the game. It’s a constant fight whether it was back in the day with Al Haymon, who tried to take over boxing. You know how that goes. It’s just interesting how we’re living it once again.”

But that didn’t shake the former world champion’s confidence. Apart from being a veteran pugilist, De La Hoya is also a successful promoter who understands the nerve of the sport.

Vowing to regain Golden Boy promotion’s top-spot, the CEO added, “But Golden Boy is a strong brand. (We have) a kid like Ryan Garcia, who has that appeal to the younger masses, who has that appeal to the digital world. We have to once again roll up our sleeves and figure out what works and what doesn’t.”

No Canelo Alvarez for Oscar De La Hoya’s rebuilding

As per the ‘Golden Boy’ himself, the young roster will help him restructure the company on an even better note.

Since most of those young prodigies have just begun their professional run, it brings a fresh spotlight on them and De La Hoya wants to utilize it to the fullest.

He said, “(Canelo leaving is) one fighter and the way we see it is that when you’re a fighter who obviously is at the end of his career — he’s not young guy, he’s not a guy who just started his boxing career like Ryan Garcia or Virgil Ortiz or like ‘JoJo’ Diaz or Jamie Munguia — it makes it easier for us to roll our sleeves up and rebuild.”

Amid all the confidence, Oscar De La Hoya isn’t happy with Alvarez’s exit. He feels boxers are way more vulnerable than other athletes, which often harms the sport.

He added, “You never want to part ways this way. It literally hurt my feelings… That’s the problem. Fighters are so accessible unlike any other sport, like basketball, where they’re protected by their lawyers and agents.”

As per De La Hoya, his relationship with Canelo Alvarez was like a marriage and without working on the differences they opted for a “divorce”, which further hurt his sentiments.

De La Hoya continued, “A fighter is so gullible and vulnerable that anyone can speak to a fighter and convince him that the grass is greener (elsewhere). I compare (the situation with Alvarez) to a marriage. Just because you have your rocky moments doesn’t mean you’re going to get a divorce. You have to work it out.” 

Meanwhile, Canelo Alvarez will return to action against Callum Smith on December 19. He is still the P4P king, and we can expect the comeback to be massive.

Do you think Canelo will remain the same without the Golden Boy?