Boxing

Oscar De La Hoya Discredits Canelo Alvarez's Legacy With One Question

Oscar De La Hoya cast doubt on the boxing legacy of Canelo Alvarez during a recent interview.

Grant Young

Jan. 25, 2024; Phoenix, Ariz; USA; Oscar De La Hoya speaks about boxer Jamie Munguia (center) about the Munguia v Ryder main event during a press conference for Golden Boy boxing event.
Jan. 25, 2024; Phoenix, Ariz; USA; Oscar De La Hoya speaks about boxer Jamie Munguia (center) about the Munguia v Ryder main event during a press conference for Golden Boy boxing event. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

In 2010, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya signed a relatively unknown fighter named Saul "Canelo" Alvarez to his Golden Boy Promotions, which he founded in 2002. While De La Hoya was an integral part of turning Alvarez into a world-renowned fighter and a multi-millionaire, their relationship eventually turned sour.

After a war of bitter words between the two parties, Canelo's ties to De La Hoya and Golden Boy were officially severed in 2020 when Alvarez sued De La Hoya and Golden Boy due to what he called a breach of contract.

Fast forward a few years and the two sides are still throwing jabs and threatening legal action against each other, despite both finding success without the other.

Canelo has been in plenty of boxing headlines over the past month. Despite being deep in contract negotiations with Jake Paul, Canelo ultimately agreed to fight William Scull on May 3 in Ridayh, Saudi Arabia. This is the first of a four-fight deal that Canelo signed with Turki Alalashikh.

If he gets past Scull (which the entire world expects him to do), his next bout will be against fellow pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford.

However, that didn't keep De La Hoya from throwing shade at Canelo's decision to fight Scull, which he conveyed during a February 22 interview with Fight Hub TV.

"I keep scratching my head, 'What are you doing? That's all I do all night. Canelo, what are you doing?" De La Hoya said of Canelo fighting Scull. "People want to see the big fights. They want to see Benavidez. In 10 or 15 years, will we say: 'Did you avoid Benavidez or did you give us the big fights with Benavidez?'"

We imagine De La Hoya casting doubt on Canelo's ultimate legacy sentiment won't go over well with Alvarez and his team.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Boxing, Women’s Basketball, and the New York Mets for On SI. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years, and he thinks it’s time that Canelo Álvarez fights David Benavidez.