Oscar De La Hoya was not moved by Canelo Alvarez’s recent unanimous decision win against John Ryder.
The undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) busted Ryder’s nose in the second round, dropped his mandatory challenger in the fifth, controlled the first nine rounds, and cruised through the last three during his homecoming bout in Mexico.
Alvarez’s decade-long promoter De La Hoya said he desired a more definitive performance for the Mexican star’s first fight on home soil in almost 12 years.
“I thought it was subpar considering who he had in front of him, considering that he dropped him,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com and other reporters from his Golden Boy Promotions headquarters.
“When you’re a fighter and you have somebody hurt, you finish him. That’s just what you’re supposed to do. And I think that’s what the 50,000 people who attended in Guadalajara wanted to see. Look, it’s no secret that Canelo is on the tail end of his career. If somebody tells me otherwise, then I think I am going blind.”
The 32-year-old Alvarez suffered just the second loss of his 18-year career last year against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
It was Alvarez’s second fight at 175 pounds, and he’s adamant that he wants a rematch against the Russian with the same terms, even after the career-long light heavyweight Bivol has expressed that he now wants to challenge Alvarez at 168 pounds instead.
It’s unclear how Alvarez guides his career after a bout with Bivol, but if he were to reconnect with his former promoter, De La Hoya would present Alvarez with bouts against Jaime Munguia and Gilberto Ramirez.
“I have no clue [where he goes from here]. Let his brilliant promoter [Eddie Hearn] do what he is doing,” said De La Hoya. “I have my plan in my head and that’s for me to know and you to find out. I just wish him the best, that’s it.”
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.