The most sought-after matchmaker in boxing, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, has been able to orchestrate the matchups that boxing fans have been dreaming of for a while. It isn’t easy to get all the rival promoters and fighters under one roof and hammer out a deal that is satisfactory to all stakeholders. But he has done it. Whether it’s “Queensberry vs Matchroom – 5 vs 5” or “Ring of Fire”, the boxing event that gave us the first undisputed heavyweight champion in over 25 years, Alalshikh has been able to do just that. However, there is one fighter who still refuses to play ball.

The Mexican boxing star Canelo Alvarez had a clear message for the Saudi Royal when asked about a potential Terence Crawford match in February next year. “He needs to do it my way, and not his way,” said Canelo bashfully during his recent press meet. “I respect everybody but I don’t like the way [Alalshikh] talks… I didn’t ask for this fight.” However, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority wasn’t entertaining such power dynamics.

Thus, HE pulled the Crawford fight off the table, and called out Canelo for making “easy show-only fights”. “I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid,” Alalshikh wrote on X, shutting down all prospects of the Saudis organizing a Canelo event. But that wasn’t all. Another prominent member of the boxing community took this as a chance to rip into Canelo.

Slamming Canelo Alvarez, the Mexican superstar’s former promoter Oscar De La Hoya went scorched earth on Canelo in his weekly ‘Clap Back Thursdays’ for pricing himself out of fights with elite contenders like David Benavidez and Terence Crawford, and not agreeing to HE’s fight offers. In a recorded video message posted on X, Oscar De La Hoya said, “So it turns out I’m not the only one who thinks Canelo is an arrogant piece of sh*t. Turki Alalshikh recently revealed that Canelo refused to meet with him and isn’t entertaining any deals to be done with him. Why? Because he’s outpriced himself so much that the Saudis don’t even want to deal with him.” Then he went further.

Additionally, the Olympic gold medalist boxer also claimed that Canelo’s upcoming fight against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 will not do well as it will be clashing against the massive UFC 306 event at Las Vegas Sphere. It will be UFC’s second “Noche” event celebrating Mexican Independence Day. Interestingly, as part of the deal signed between the UFC and Riyadh Season this year, HE Turki Alalshikh has taken up the responsibility of sponsoring UFC 306, which De La Hoya thinks will be detrimental to Canelo’s upcoming fight across the street at the MGM Grand.

“They’re going up against the UFC’s debut at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Now that’s a spectacle that everyone and their mother have been waiting to see since it opened up about a year ago and who is funding it and making it all happen Canelo? Turkey Alalshikh. You are really making the wrong enemies,” De La La Hoya said smugly. He further taunted Alvarez by saying that he is picking fights “nobody wants to see,” and insinuated that he is intentionally dodging bouts with elite fighters like Benavidez just to protect his legacy.

Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez have been clashing badly for the past few months. With a history of lawsuits behind them, their hatred for each other reached a head during the press conference ahead of Canelo’s Jaime Munguia bout in May.

The bitterness will remain unresolved!

At the final press conference of the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia bout, the latter’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya decided to fire shots at Canelo and get some things off his chest that remained unsaid since Canelo’s separation from Golden Boy Promotions in 2020. “Golden Boy built Canelo Alvarez, period. The company you fought under for decades has always had one name and it’s mine. So put some f*** respect on it,” De La Hoya said, staring directly at Canelo.

The Golden Boy further emphasized that GBP stood by Canelo when he was facing accusations of intentionally consuming the banned substance clenbuterol ahead of the fight against then-unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin in 2018.

Canelo got progressively riled up as Oscar continued to rattle away digs at the Mexican from his prepared speech. So much so, that he began cursing De La Hoya in Spanish in the middle of his speech, and then stood up to engage in a confrontation with De La Hoya once he finished talking.

“You don’t do sh*t. You’re a dumbass, that’s what you are. You’re a dumbass. There’s people doing everything behind the scenes. You’re just the image. You’re an idiot, motherf**ker,” Canelo Alvarez angrily ranted at De La Hoya in Spanish. Fortunately, the security intervened and separated the two of them. Seems there is no end in sight to their bitterness.

What do you think of the bad blood between Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez? Is Canelo doing right by not fighting Crawford and Benavidez? Let us know in the comment section below.