If there was ever the slightest chance of Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez burying the hatchet and becoming, if not friends, then at least two folks who are speaking terms, it’s now surely gone for good. As fans know, De La Hoya, Canelo’s former promoter, had a falling out with Canelo some years ago, and the two have traded insults ever since.
Now, ahead of Canelo’s officially announced September 14 fight with Edgar Berlanga, De La Hoya has put the boot in again. Speaking on ‘Clap Back Thursdays,’ the Golden Boy head said fans are “beginning to boycott Canelo for ducking you know who.”
Who? David Benavidez, that’s who. And for sure, we fans have wanted to see Canelo step up and accept the challenge of “The Mexican Monster” for some time now. In picking Berlanga instead, critics such as De La Hoya say Canelo has gone the easy route. Oscar is pretty much predicting a flop at the box office for Canelo-Berlanga.
“The September 14th fight has been made. Canelo versus Edgar Berlanga, a fight that nobody asked for. Fans are beginning to boycott Canelo for ducking, you know who,” De La Hoya said. “Also, they’re going up against the UFC at The Sphere. Good luck with making a splash with that one.”
There will indeed be a big UFC show that same night, over Mexican Independence Day Weekend, and De La Hoya may well be right when he says the UFC card will attract far more pay-per-view buys than the Canelo-Berlanga card (Erislandy Lara Vs. Danny Garcia on the undercard will not exactly help boost potential P-P-V buys).
But will fans actually boycott Canelo, in this fight and in the future if he does not finally agree to fight Benavidez? Would Canelo really care if a major amount of fans did boycott him? Canelo knows he is a future Hall of Famer, he is a very rich and successful man, and he enjoys calling his own shots. Bottom line: if Canelo doesn’t want to fight Benavidez, or anyone else, he is not going to.
It will prove very interesting to see how many fans buy the Canelo-Berlanga fight.
Will YOU be buying, or will you be taking a pass with this fight?
