Oscar De La Hoya is the latest key figure in boxing who’s chimed in on the Canelo Alvarez versus Jermell Charlo fight.
The Hall of Fame fighter turned promoter once backed both boxers but he was not pleased with Alvarez’s one-sided beating and Charlo’s listless performance.
“Canelo-Charlo was a super boring fight. [Charlo] just showed up for a paycheck. Canelo, obviously like I said, on quicksand throwing bombs. He won easily. But anyway, if we want boxing to survive and thrive we need super fights, like all the time,” De La Hoya said in a video posted on his Instagram page.
De La Hoya then took a detour from the fight and pivoted toward the current state of the sport at large, pleading that the powers that be must serve fans the most desired fights possible moving forward.
“We are watching boxing die slowly. I’m calling out all promoters to come together and make all the fights the fans want to see – finally. I’m tired of fighters fighting for money; let’s start fighting for legacy … Fighters must fight each other. We have to come together. Promoters, Eddie Hearn, Al Haymon, Bob Arum, whoever is out there. Let's come together. I'm calling you out. Let's come together. Let's meet. The power of the minds and come up with something, because boxing can die. I'm calling you all out. Let's do this.”
Boxing has arguably had its best year in recent memory, marked by marquee matchups like Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr., Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomanchenko, Teofimo Lopez vs. Josh Taylor, David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant, and Naoya Inoue vs. Stephen Fulton, among others.
When palatable fights get made, the fans come flocking – and the proof is in the pudding.
The Showtime and PBC-led cards featuring Alvarez-Charlo, Crawford-Spence, and Davis-Garcia each grossed $20 million-plus gates in Las Vegas over the last six months.
Davis-Garcia netted 1.2 million pay-per-view buys – the first fight to surpass the one million PPV buy mark since the 2018 fight headlined by Alvarez’s rematch against Gennadiy Golovkin.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (15)