Oscar De La Hoya absolutely blasts the IBF for stripping Canelo Alvarez of title

Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya was furious to learn that the IBF had stripped his fighter Canelo Alvarez of his middleweight title.

The pride of Mexico was stripped of his IBF middleweight strap after negotiations for one of his mandatory defenses against Sergiy Derevyanchenko ended in a no-deal on Thursday afternoon.

That news did no sit well with Oscar De La Hoya, who proceeded to blast the IBF in a statement, this while accusing Derevyanchenko’s camp for not wanting to make a deal:

“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.”

The boxing legend did not stop there, as Oscar De La Hoya went on to suggest that Thursday’s decision was a prime example of what is currently wrong with the sport.

“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.”

The good news in all of this is Canelo Alvarez is now free to fight a different opponent this fall. While many fans are clamoring for Canelo to have a trilogy bout with ‘GGG’, the Mexican does not appear interested in a third fight at this time.

What do you think of the comments from boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya after Canelo was stripped of his IBF middleweight title? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!

August 2, 2019