‘Dumbest move in boxing history’ – Oscar De La Hoya slams Canelo Alvarez’s team for taking Dmitry Bivol fight after loss
OSCAR DA LA HOYA called Canelo Alvarez’s choice to fight Dmitry Bivol “the dumbest move in boxing history”.
Canelo, who unified the super-middleweight division last year, stepped up to challenge for Bivol’s light-heavyweight title.
But he was soundly beaten in Las Vegas as his audacious roll of the dice failed to pay off.
De La Hoya, who once promoted Canelo, refused to slam the Mexican superstar and instead hit out at rival Eddie Hearn.
He told USA Today: “The fact that the promoter of this event pushed Bivol on Canelo, it was the dumbest move in boxing history.
“It’s not knowing boxing. It was the stupidest move. Whoever allowed Canelo to fight Bivol, I would’ve never allowed Canelo to fight Bivol.”
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Canelo, 31, terminated his contract with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy promotions in 2020 amid a row due to fight inactivity.
And while a free agent working with Hearn and PBC, he captured all four 168lb super-middleweight belts.
Only once had Canelo fought at the 175lb light-heavyweight division, knocking out Sergey Kovalev, 39, in 2019.
But he was unable to repeat the win against Kovalev’s Russian countryman Bivol, 31, who is now open to accepting a rematch.
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Although former SIX-weight world champ De La Hoya, 49, has warned Canelo against a sequel.
He said: “Look exactly at what happened. Canelo’s on the top of the world, he’s the king.
“Why fight a guy that if Canelo fights ten times, he loses ten times? And he has nothing to gain. Nothing to win. Nobody knew Bivol.”