Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya engage in intense verbal feud over Canelo Alvarez versus John Ryder bout: Heated insults exchanged as tensions flare.
Golden Boy doesn't believe John Ryder is a good enough opponent
The highly regarded Mexican boxer is set to defend his undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO super-middleweight world titles against John Ryder in Jalisco on May 6th.
Until 2020, Canelo was under the tutelage of De La Hoya, who was his promoter at Golden Boy. However, Canelo then opted to become a free agent and parted ways with Golden Boy. During his tenure as a free agent, Canelo has mostly signed one or two-fight agreements with Eddie Hearn, who will be promoting his fight against Ryder.
When questioned about Canelo's next fight, De La Hoya remarked to Fight Hub, stating,
"It appears that he is regressing inside the ring, and his opponents are regressing too. He's fighting all of these British fighters, which does not add to his legacy. I don't know whose responsibility that is, and I don't want to make any accusations. He must step up and take on challenging opponents - the tough guys who can provide him with a challenge. It's not the likes of John Ryders who can do that."
Hearn retorted to De La Hoya's remarks by stating to Fight Hub,
“John Ryder’s earned his shot, he beat Danny Jacobs, he beat Zach Parker.
“I did see Oscar say, ‘You’ve gotta fight bigger fights.’ His last three fights have been Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol, and Gennady Golovkin. Sometimes people actually refuse to acknowledge the facts… Oscar De La Hoya said, ‘They’re stupid taking that [Bivol] fight, that’s such a tough fight, they’re idiots,’ but all of a sudden he’s taking easy fights?"
“Oscar will say whatever suits him. I don’t think half the time he knows what he’s saying.
“But he will never speak honestly about Canelo Alvarez because at the end of the day, Canelo Alvarez left Golden Boy and he’s never been able to accept that.
“I think he needs to look at some of his own matchmaking. Particularly Gilberto Ramirez this weekend and particularly Jaime Munguia, which has been absolutely horrific and embarrassing…
“If you want to look at Canelo’s résumé and criticize, you’re a complete idiot.”
Upon seeing some of these quotes, De La Hoya fired back on social media.
Oh God 🙄 Again?? Eddie Hearn stop attempting to poach another one of my World Champions in @jaimemunguia15. Why is it impossible for you to build your own? To quote Roger Mayweather “you don’t know shit about boxing” https://t.co/1hxMRS7pgF
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) March 17, 2023
He tweeted: “Oh God. Again??
“Eddie Hearn stop attempting to poach another one of my world champions in Jaime Munguia. Why is it impossible for you to build your own?
“To quote Roger Mayweather, ‘You don’t know s*** about boxing.'”