Canelo: Truth Is, It's 'A Working Relationship' With De La Hoya

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez didn’t even acknowledge longtime promoter Oscar De La Hoya as they sat side-by-side throughout a press conference Wednesday at MGM Grand for his fight against Sergey Kovalev.

The Mexican icon didn’t want to discuss De La Hoya or their relationship, either. When asked about comments he made to The Athletic in a story posted Wednesday, Alvarez declined to elaborate on what he said.

“The truth is that this is a working relationship,” Alvarez said through a translator, about an hour before sharing the stage with De La Hoya. “I’m here to fight. I’m not here to speak about legal situations.”

Alvarez alluded to part of a question posed during a group interview session Wednesday at MGM Grand, which referred to whether Alvarez believes De La Hoya is “fit” to be his promoter due to two lawsuits filed against De La Hoya recently.

Alvarez expressed frustration in The Athletic article about being stripped of his IBF middleweight title because De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions couldn’t complete a deal with mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Gennadiy Golovkin, Alvarez’s rival, wound up defeating Derevyanchenko by unanimous decision October 5 at Madison Square Garden to win the IBF belt Alvarez says he involuntarily vacated.

The three-division champion also said that his relationship with De La Hoya began deteriorating a couple years ago.

The 29-year-old Alvarez has nine fights remaining on a contract with DAZN that could become worth $365 million. He also has a long-term contract with Golden Boy Promotions and has not publicly stated a desire to get out of it.

Alvarez vented, however, to The Athletic about his fractured relationship with De La Hoya, a retired six-division champion.

“You can see there’s no loyalty in him,” Alvarez said. “He changed trainers during his career. He changed managers in his career. So, there’s no loyalty. That’s the way he is. We see it now.”

Alvarez also called De La Hoya “very ungrateful” in The Athletic story.

“I’m a very loyal person and we are a very loyal team,” Alvarez said, referring to his trainers and managers, Eddy Reynoso and Jose “Chepo” Reynoso. “We’re still together. But you can see there’s no loyalty in Oscar.”

Alvarez’s refusal to fight Golovkin a third time also has become problematic for Golden Boy Promotions because De La Hoya has assured DAZN executive chairman John Skipper that Alvarez would box Golovkin again. DAZN doesn’t have a contractual commitment from Alvarez for a third Golovkin fight.

Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) instead has moved up two weight classes to challenge Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) for the Russian’s WBO light heavyweight title. DAZN will stream their 12-round, 175-pound championship match from MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.