Canelo Alvarez and promoter Oscar De La Hoya almost got into a fistfight at Wednesday's final press conference. Boxing expert Sergio Mora gave his opinion on the cause of the feud between De La Hoya and former fighter Canelo.
Mora believes the animosity between Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) and De La Hoya was real, not fake.
As Mora points out, superstar Canelo was out of character after De La Hoya read a prepared statement and appeared to intentionally infuriate him.
It's questionable whether Mr. De La Hoya wrote a speech that hit all the points that historically would have angered Mr. Canelo, including references to past drug tests. That alone was enough to send Canelo's anger up to level 10.
real grudge
“I've never seen Canelo be so out of character. You can see there's a grudge between Oscar,” Sergio Mora said at the final press conference of promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez. He spoke to Sean Zittel about the substitution.
“That's a great promo. Canelo isn't going to back down, you have two fighters. It wasn't fake for the cameras. It was real. He [Canelo] Basically said, “You steal from the fighters.” It's not your fault and there are problems outside the ring. ” Yes, he called him a derogatory name. He just let it have it. ”
It was a nice promotion to have Canelo and De La Hoya going back and forth, but Jaime Munguia wasn't helping at all during the press conference, as he was trying to say nice things and not step on Alvarez's toes.
That was the case throughout the promotion. De La Hoya has been doing a tremendous job of building interest in the game, but it wasn't until Wednesday that he was able to actually do a great job.
De La Hoya Legacy vs. Canelo Legacy
“Oscar De La Hoya fought anybody, like Canelo, but he has a gold medal. I mean, he was representing his country,” Mora said.
De La Hoya accomplished more in his career than Canelo, but to see the great work Oscar did to recognize his accomplishments and realize that he is the true face of boxing Alvarez was probably too young.
Benavidez: The next big challenge
“Okay, Benavidez is losing. There's always going to be another monster in line, Canelo, if you're him you understand that. You've been doing that half your life. There's always someone around the corner,” Mora said.
I don't think Canelo is going to fight David Benavidez, but Mora seems to think he will. Canelo wants a big payday for that fight, and he won't want to fight the glorified cruiserweight.
Benavidez's size is ridiculous, even for a light heavyweight. Benavidez has sacrificed himself to get to 168 pounds, and now he's looking to do the same at 175 pounds.
“He just has to focus on his job, keep collecting checks and keep putting on big shows for the public. This is great for boxing. Boxing is winning right now,” Mora said of Canelo. talked about.
Is a Benavidez fight inevitable?
“Well, there's too much pride and too much masculinity. Benavidez is the last man standing, and that could make him cross the finish line as the greatest of all time. I think he has no choice but to do it.” Mora talked about the pressure on Canelo to fight David Benavidez.
Mora is wrong about Benavidez being “the last man standing.” There's also David Morrell, who has given up on fighting Canelo. Like Benavidez, Morel also moved up to 175 in search of greener pastures.
“Benavidez, he might have an advantage in that regard,” Mora said.