Eddie Hearn was simply amused by the slew of critical comments fellow rival promoter Oscar De La Hoya recently made about him.
De La Hoya, the founder of Golden Boy Promotions, recently took aim at Hearn, the head of Matchroom Boxing, essentially questioning the British promoter’s boxing acumen and, most of all, blaming him for Canelo Alvarez’s recent defeat to Dmitry Bivol. The Russian titlist defeated Alvarez in May by unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in their 175-pound WBA title bout.
De La Hoya was Alvarez’s longtime promoter before the two famously parted ways in 2020. Hearn has since promoted the majority of Alvarez’s bouts.
“Canelo has a promoter [Hearn] now that obviously doesn’t come from a boxing world,” De La Hoya said recently. “He doesn’t really know the fight game. He got Canelo beat, it was the wrong style.”
Hearn, in turn, thinks De La Hoya is in no position to be pointing fingers. On De La Hoya’s logic, Hearn contended that the former welterweight star was responsible for Alvarez’s first career loss at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Alvarez was 23 when he fought Mayweather, who was 36, in what became one of the top pay-per-view grossing fights in history. Mayweather soundly defeated Alvarez, boxing the Mexican superstar over 12 rounds in their 154-pound title bout, albeit the scorecards only reflected a majority decision for “Money May.”
Hearn also pointed out that he does not make decisions for Alvarez, who decided to link up with Hearn on a multi-fight contract earlier this year.
“It’s nice, him putting my name in his mouth, that’s nice,” Hearn said of De La Hoya in an interview with Boxing Social. “I mean, he’s just moaning that I got Canelo beat. Canelo makes his own decisions. He put Canelo Alvarez in with Floyd Mayweather when he was about 12 [Note: Alvarez was 23].”
Hearn believes De La Hoya is simply embittered because he no longer promotes arguably the world’s top box office star. Hearn also defended the matchmaking for Alvarez, praising the undisputed 168-pound champion's ambitions for difficult fights.
“At the end of the day we have to make great fights,” Hearn said. “The fighters are chasing after great legacy. What they’re basically saying is that Eddie should’ve gotten him an easy fight. Canelo doesn’t need an easy fight. That’s why fans love him. I’m not interested in making easy fights. Canelo’s the boss.”
“Canelo wants the biggest, toughest fights out there. We respect him for that. The fans love him for that. So it’s just bitterness at the end of the day.”
Hearn also derided De La Hoya for his recent claim that he received a 10-figure offer to sell his company. De La Hoya told ESPN recently that he wishes to find a buyer for Golden Boy.
“Billion dollar offer?” Hearn said rhetorically, while making a mocking gesture. “He’s just off his swede. Take a few zeros off of it and that will be the value.”
