Matchroom Sports’ chief Eddie Hearn and Golden Boy Promotion’s Oscar De La Hoya have gone in at each other while discussing Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s next fight against John Ryder in Jalisco on May 6.
Canelo will defend his WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO super-middleweight titles against Ryder in front of his home crowd.
Canelo and De La Hoya worked together until 2020. He was then a free agent boxer for a while before he began fighting under Hearn’s deals. He’s again taking on Ryder under Hearn’s banner.
Speaking to FightHub about the champion’s dance partners, De La Hoya was of the view that Canelo is not the same fighter he once was.
“It seems like he’s regressing inside the ring, he’s regressing in terms of opponents. He’s fighting all these British fighters, and it does nothing to his legacy,” he said.
“I don’t know whose fault that is, I don’t want to mention anything. He has to step up and fight tough opposition, the tough guys, the guys who are out there who can give him a fight. It’s not the John Ryders of this world.”
The statement did not sit well with Canelo’s current promoter. Hearn was quick to explain why he chose Ryder to take on the world champion.
“John Ryder’s earned his shot, he beat Danny Jacobs, he beat Zach Parker. I did see Oscar say, ‘You’ve got to fight bigger fights.’ His last three fights have been Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol and Gennady Golovkin.”
In a separate development, there are rumors that Canelo may take on David Benavidez once he’s done with Ryder. However, these rumors are very much unconfirmed.