De La Hoya Slams Alvarez-Charlo Fight, Calls On Promoters To Work Together

Oscar De La Hoya is the latest key figure in boxing who wasn’t impressed with the Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo fight.

The Hall of Fame fighter-turned-promoter explained the sport needs super fights to happen more frequently, implying that one-sided beatdowns aren’t necessarily helping the sport prosper.

“Canelo-Charlo was a super boring fight. [Charlo] just showed up for a paycheck. Canelo, obviously like I said, [his feet] on quicksand throwing bombs. He won easily. But anyway, if we want boxing to survive and thrive we need super fights, like all the time,” De La Hoya said in a video posted on his Instagram page.

Superfights Super One-Sided in 2023

Terence Crawford delivered a shocking beatdown of Errol Spence Jr. in July. Photo: Ryan Hafey, Premier Boxing Champions

Boxing has put on three significant events this year: Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia, and Canelo vs. Charlo, all spearheaded by Premier Boxing Champions with its media partner Showtime.

The recurring theme has been non-competitive beatdowns. Crawford reconfigured Spence’s face for nine rounds, Davis knocked Garcia down twice en route to a dominant seventh-round TKO, and Canelo dropped Charlo on the way to a lopsided victory.

De La Hoya is dismayed by it.

“We are watching boxing die slowly. I’m calling out all promoters to come together and make all the fights the fans want to see – finally. I’m tired of fighters fighting for money; let’s start fighting for legacy. Fighters must fight each other. We have to come together.

Promoters, Eddie Hearn, Al Haymon, Bob Arum, whoever is out there. Let’s come together. I’m calling you out. Let’s come together. Let’s meet. The power of the minds (sic) and come up with something, because boxing can die. I’m calling you all out. Let’s do this.”

Does De La Hoya Have A Point?

Perhaps De La Hoya has a point. It would be better if promoters worked more closely together. However, we’re smart enough to know that the boxing business consists of many egos, which tend to fracture deals repeatedly.

De La Hoya used to be the hottest promoter in boxing. However, since the departure of Alvarez from Golden Boy Promotions in 2020, De La Hoya has struggled to regain his form.

Boxing has made a lot of money this year. Alvarez-Charlo, Crawford-Spence, and Davis-Garcia each grossed $20 million-plus gates in Las Vegas over the last six months. UFC can’t match this.

Davis-Garcia also garnered 1.2 million pay-per-view buys – the first fight to surpass the one million PPV buy mark since the 2018 rematch between Alvarez and longtime rival Gennadiy Golovkin.

Aside from those fights, fans have also been treated to Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomanchenko, Teofimo Lopez vs. Josh Taylor, Naoya Inoue vs. Stephen Fulton, and David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant. Of these bouts, you could argue three of the four bouts were a clear demonstration of one fighter being superior to the other. Unfortunately, the one competitive fight — Haney-Lomachenko — ended in what many deemed as a controversial outcome.

What Do The Fans Think?

NY Fights wants to hear from you. Do you believe boxing has enough momentum to carry us into 2024? Or will the sport continue to lag behind its potential?