Time certainly hasn’t healed any wounds between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya.
Boxing’s most high-profile rivalry exploded this week.
Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) will defend his undisputed super middleweight title against Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
from his fighters. Getty Images
Munguia belongs to De La Hoya’s promotional company Golden Boy Promotions, and this week’s pre-fight promotional events brought Alvarez and De La Hoya face-to-face.
And it got ugly.
De La Hoya, a superstar former boxer-turned-promoter, issued a cease-and-desist letter to Alvarez on Thursday over what he claims are defamatory allegations made by Alvarez on Wednesday that he did not properly pay his fighters, according to ESPN.
Alvarez, who was promoted by De La Hoya’s company for 10 years before a 2020 split, alleged that De La Hoya stole money from Gennadiy Golovkin, among other fighters.
“Contact your lawyers because he is surely stealing from you,” Alvarez said at the fight-week press conference on Wednesday in a message to other fighters. “It’s the only thing he comes to do in boxing. … If I hadn’t involved my lawyers, you would steal from me.”
De La Hoya had sparked the war of words, referencing Alvarez, who is now signed to Pro Boxing Champions, testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol ahead of his 2018 rematch against Golovkin before Alvarez shot back with his accusation.
“[Alvarez] falsely accused Oscar of a crime with the specific intention of supposedly warning other boxers not to do business with Oscar or Golden Boy,” De La Hoya’s lawyer, Ricardo P. Cestero, wrote in the cease-and-desist letter obtained by ESPN.
“Clearly, Canelo internationally defamed Oscar and Golden Boy. Canelo’s statements were also made with actual malice. … Oscar and Golden Boy reserve all rights to sue Canelo for the damages caused by these defamatory accusations, including punitive damages designed to ensure Canelo learns his lesson.”
Alvarez’s lawyer, Gregory M. Smith, told the outlet that Alvarez audited his “payments and deductions under his prior contracts” after splitting with Golden Boy Promotions and found that he was owed money.
“Court records show that Golovkin also audited Golden Boy and found that he had also been underpaid,” Smith told ESPN. “GGG then sued Golden Boy for the missing funds.”
De La Hoya kickstarted it all on Wednesday by saying that Golden Boy Promotions had “built” Alvarez and that the company always had “one name” on it.
“It’s mine,” De La Hoya said. “So put some f–king respect on it.”
Alvarez later let the expletives fly in response.
“He tried to steal money, and he’s a f—king assh–e,” Alvarez said. “That’s what I said. He’s a f–king assh–e. He tried to [bring] attention to him, not for Munguía. He’s a f—king assh–e. He steals from his fighter. That’s what he [does]. F–king p—y motherf—-r.”
Alvarez is a heavy favorite in Saturday’s bout.
