STATEMENT FROM OSCAR DE LA HOYA REGARDING THE IBF’S DECISION TO STRIP MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION CANELO ALVAREZ
There is a lot going on in the world of Golden Boy Promotions lately. There are rumblings that Ryan Garcia is not happy about his pay grade, and then of course there is the IBF and Canelo Alvarez situation.
Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, recently issued the following statement in response to the International Boxing Federation’s decision to strip Middleweight world champion, Canelo Alvarez.
“We are extremely disappointed at the IBF for forcing the world’s best fighter to relinquish his world title. We have been in serious negotiations with Sergiy Derevyanchenko’s promoter. We offered his team an unprecedented amount of money for a fighter of his limited stature and limited popularity, but the truth is that I’m now certain they never had any intention of making a deal. But instead they wanted to force us to relinquish Canelo’s belt. This is an insult to boxing and more importantly an insult to the boxing fans of the world. This decision validates already existing concerns about the credibility of the IBF championship. Canelo inherited a mandatory challenger by defeating Daniel Jacobs, the man who beat Derevyanchenko, so to strip him of his title without giving him enough time to make the best fight possible is truly what is wrong with boxing, and I plan to aggressively consider all legal actions possible.”
Perhaps more troubling for De La Hoya and his company is the fact that Canelo claims (via ESPN) to have been blindsided by this decision because he was unaware of any deal Golden Boy had with the IBF.
“I’m very upset and ashamed with my fans, to be unfairly stripped of my belt by the IBF,” said Canelo. “But specially when I did not have the knowledge of the agreement that GBP matchmaker had signed.”
What do you think about the IBF’s decision and the trouble that seems to be plaguing Golden Boy these days?
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