Oscar De La Hoya hopes there is a point when his company can promote Canelo Alvarez again.
The Mexican icon’s former promoter praised Alvarez, who parted ways with De La Hoya’s company early in November, during a recent appearance on “The Ak & Barak Show.” While respectful of Alvarez’s new partnership with rival promoter Eddie Hearn, “The Golden Boy” expressed confidence that the four-division champion will want to work with him in the future.
“Well, look, I’ve been in this business for about 20-something years, and I’ve promoted everyone, including Mayweather, including Pacquiao, all the very best,” De La Hoya told co-hosts Barak Bess and Akin Reyes, whose show streams weekdays on DAZN and SiriusXM. “I’ve had one fighter who in the past, in all those 20 years, that wasn’t happy. But I’m pretty sure that I’ll be working with him once again. I have no doubt whatsoever. I mean, look, people always think that the grass is greener on the other side. Well, we’ll see.”
Golden Boy Promotions helped build Alvarez into boxing’s biggest attraction in the United States while representing him for most of his 15-year pro career. Alvarez sued DAZN, Golden Boy Promotions and De La Hoya himself in September for breach of contract once they couldn’t come to an agreement on a purse or opponent for his next fight.
Once he reached a settlement with Golden Boy and DAZN, the 30-year-old Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) partnered with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing for his past two super middleweight title fights – victories over England’s Callum Smith and Turkey’s Avni Yildirim in San Antonio and Miami, respectively. Matchroom also is promoting Alvarez’s 168-pound title unification fight against England’s Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) on May 8 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
DAZN streamed Alvarez’s victories over Smith and Yildirim, and is scheduled to stream his fight against Saunders.
Alvarez has gone out of his way to praise the fighter-friendly, detail-oriented Hearn, whom Alvarez recently called “the best promoter in the world, by far.” Alvarez also has said that he wants to work with Hearn well beyond the Saunders fight.
“Good for him,” De La Hoya said. “I’m glad that he appreciates [Hearn]. It makes me happy that they’re gonna be working long-term, and I’m sure they have a deal together. And, you know, it’s good news for everybody because as long as Canelo fights, the whole boxing world wins. So, I think [Hearn is] doing a good job. I think that Canelo right now is on top of the world and, you know, good for him. You know, I wish him all the best and let’s move on because, you know, like I said, when Canelo fights, everybody wins.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.