Oscar de la Hoya remains hopeful of moving forward in a working relationship with his company’s biggest client, even as the two remain on opposing sides of an ongoing legal battle.
As previously reported by BoxingScene.com, a lawsuit filed by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez against de la Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions and sports streaming service DAZN was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California on Friday. The case was rejected with the request for amendment on the part of Alvarez to “allege affirmatively the actual citizenship of the relevant parties” named as defendants.
The ruling came one day after de la Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions were among the six defendants officially served a summons on Thursday, requiring a response or to file a motion within 21 day of receipt. Alvarez (52-1-2, 36KOs) is seeking at least $280 million in addition to punitive damages in claiming breach of contract in the balance of an existing 11-fight, $365 million contract between Golden Boy and DAZN for his specific in-ring services. Friday’s ruling forces his legal team—headed by The Maloney Firm in El Segundo, California—to amend its filing by no later than September 28 to avoid the case being dismissed outright.
Alvarez has yet to fight in 2020, a point of contention which served in part as motivation to go this legal route. The three-division champion and global superstar was set to face England’s Billy Joe Saunders in a bid to claim a legitimate super middleweight title (Alvarez won a secondary version in a 3rd round knockout of Rocky Fielding in his first fight on DAZN in December 2018). Their bout was due to take place this past May, where a win would have paved the way for a third fight with two-tour middleweight beltholder Gennadiy Golovkin.
Those plans were torched by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which also impacts the ability for Alvarez—by far the biggest box office attraction in North America—to fight in front of a crowd. With that in mind, the Guadalajara native was willing to fight at less than his contractually promised rate in order to return to the ring this fall. This weekend in particular—leading into Mexican Independence Day—would have been ideal for his next fight, only for Alvarez and DAZN to disagree on his opponent choice and the pay rate.
The timeline then shifted to November before reaching the realization that any fight at all in 2020 would be unlikely for Alvarez—at least in the ring.
Instead comes an ugly legal battle which has already reached a roadblock, though one where at least his promoter—for better or for worse—hopes for it to serve as a much-needed silver lining.
“While yesterday’s order does not end the case, we are hopeful that this error will allow us to reset, and refocus on what’s important – working together to get Canelo back in the ring against a top opponent ASAP,” de la Hoya stated via social media on Saturday, perhaps with blind optimism given the fractured relationship between the two and the severity of the ongoing lawsuit. “If not, we expect Canelo’s lawyers will now enter arbitration as is laid out in our contract.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
