LAS VEGAS ? Oscar De La Hoya?s fate as a promoter will be determined, in many ways, by a guy whom he doesn?t promote, doesn?t have a relationship with and whom, for the better part of the second half of his career, has been as unreliable as it comes.
De La Hoya?s announcement in January that his star fighter, Canelo Alvarez, would take on the mercurial Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Cinco de Mayo weekend was panned by many critics for a variety of reasons.
Alvarez and De La Hoya had been putting off a fight with Gennady Golovkin because they insisted Alvarez wasn?t a middleweight (160-pound limit), only to announce the Chavez fight at a catchweight of 164.5 pounds. On top of that, Chavez is a massive guy who comes in easily 20 or 25 pounds heavier on fight night than Golovkin regularly does.
In addition, Chavez lacks discipline and had been fighting at light heavyweight because he simply didn?t put in the effort to make middleweight. Who can ever forget the scene on HBO?s ?24/7? prior to Chavez?s 2012 title fight with Sergio Martinez, when Roach was standing alone in the gym, waiting for Chavez to arrive?
That was one of the many reasons fans and critics reacted negatively when De La Hoya announced the fight.
I wasn?t among those critics, though I?ve been highly critical of De La Hoya?s position relative to a potential Alvarez-Golovkin fight since late 2015.
It?s been clear for a couple of years that Alvarez is the only moneymaker De La Hoya has on his Golden Boy Promotions roster, and De La Hoya has gone to great lengths to protect him. This, despite the fact that Alvarez is an elite talent and doesn?t need Golden Boy or anyone else to protect him.
De La Hoya had Alvarez fight Amir Khan, who had primarily been a junior welterweight in his career, last Cinco de Mayo. Khan never had a chance in the bout, posed no threat and just about everyone knew it.
After the fight, De La Hoya feigned interest in an Alvarez-Golovkin fight, and shouted at the news conference for Tom Loeffler, Golovkin?s promoter, to be ready for his phone call the next day. A handful of days later, Alvarez surrendered his title rather than agree to fight Golovkin.
That decision led to the disaster of a matchup on Mexican Independence Day Weekend, annually one of the biggest boxing weekends of the year, between Alvarez and the little-known Liam Smith. Smith had even less of a chance of winning than Khan.
And then, in January, De La Hoya announced the Alvarez-Chavez fight, which will be held on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and many critics shredded the decision.
