Oscar De La Hoya’s relationship with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has long been frayed.
The former multi-weight world champion promoted current pound-for-pound star Canelo for many years at the start of his career but they have had several public spats since a bitter split.
Right now there is plenty of pressure on ‘Canelo’ to fight 27-year-old David Benavidez. He is a former two-time super middleweight champion who recently moved up to light heavyweight and secured a win against Oleksandr Gvozdyk but has stated this desire to come back down for the Mexican four-belt champ.
Speaking to Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, De La Hoya was asked how the fight could be made and suggested Canelo is worried about losing, as evidenced by him putting a $200 million price tag on the bout.
“It’s not about money. What I feel it is, he basically does not want to fight him. I think he knows that he will lose. Look, I’ve learned over the years when fighters out-price themselves that’s basically saying I don’t want to fight you.”
De La Hoya then suggested ‘Canelo’ is now past his best.
“Look at the styles. Look at Canelo right, I promoted him for 12 years I think it was, he’s been evolving and getting better and stronger but now you can see a little decline. His footwork, his injuries. People don’t know he’s had several operations on his knees and his shoulders. You have this kid Benavidez who’s 26 and big as hell. He’s not afraid to fight him but he’s afraid to lose.”
Benavidez is the WBC mandatory challenger in the hope to force the Canelo’s hand. The champion has recently said taking the fight all depends on the money,
