The whirlwind lurking beneath the surface of Oscar De La Hoya’s life in boxing rose up with fresh force in Las Vegas this week. On Monday morning, while he was talking cheerfully to me from his home in Los Angeles, it had all felt very different as De La Hoya celebrated his promotion of the two biggest fights of the year so far.
Last month’s bizarre yet stunning victory for his fighter Ryan Garcia, against Devin Haney in New York, will be followed on Saturday night in Vegas. Jaime Munguía, who is also promoted by De La Hoya and his company Golden Boy, faces Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, the undisputed world super-middleweight champion and still the biggest name in boxing.
Before reflecting on Garcia’s haphazard role in the strangest buildup to a fight in recent memory, De La Hoya had addressed his own bitter enmity with Canelo, his former protege. The 51-year-old multiple world champion turned promoter believes Munguía will achieve a mighty upset over Canelo and end an era in boxing. That possibility lit up De La Hoya’s face.
“Oh, when Munguía wins,” he said, “I will be the happiest person on earth. Not because of getting back at Canelo. I’m over that. Canelo will come and go and I will be a promoter until I’m 80 or 90. I want Munguía to win because he deserves it as he is a class act. I’ve promoted Munguía since the beginning of his career and we’re stronger than ever. He has a shot on Saturday night to shock the world and I’ll be the first to smile, hug and congratulate him.”
A beaming De La Hoya added: “And now Ryan Garcia is the biggest thing in boxing. It’s incredible.”
Two days later chaos and embarrassment erupted. After Canelo and De La Hoya ripped into each other at Wednesday’s press conference in Vegas, showing the depth of their mutual animosity, bleak news broke late that afternoon. Garcia had tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing anabolic agent ostarine both before and after his defeat of Haney.
De La Hoya had been plunged back into controversy which cast a dismal light over the opening statement with which he had begun our interview earlier in the week. “It’s a great time for boxing,” the promoter had enthused, “it’s a great time for the fighters. Golden Boy is doing wonderful things for the fight game, so we have to continue making the right fights and building the stars of tomorrow. That’s what we do best.”
Before we turned to Garcia’s erratic behaviour, De La Hoya considered his fall out with Canelo. He had signed the Mexican when Canelo was 20 years old in 2010 and they enjoyed a profitable partnership. De La Hoya helped Canelo establish his name in the US but, by 2020, their relationship had soured so dramatically that the boxer took the promoter to court.
“Canelo wants no part of me,” De La Hoya said with a shrug. “I’ve been trying to figure out the reason. We had a great working relationship for about 10 years. He claimed I was not loyal, which I still can’t wrap my head around. I did critique his trainer [Eddy Reynoso] after Canelo lost [to Floyd Mayweather in 2013]. I said: ‘Maybe you need help. It doesn’t hurt to get some extra eyes and more experience.’ Maybe that’s it. Me and Canelo have no relationship whatsoever now. It’s OK. As long as he puts on a great fight with Munguía I’m content.”
Canelo’s bitingly personal attacks have often focused on the promoter’s struggles with drugs and alcohol. “He’s always talking about the Mayweather fight, where he got schooled, and I wasn’t there because certain things were happening in my life,” De La Hoya said. “I was in drug rehab, taking care of my personal life and getting it back in order. What does he do? He puts his foot on my neck and wants to take me down. But the only thing Canelo has on me is my personal life. And now my personal life is amazing. That’s exactly why we’re thriving so much as a company.”
That bullish claim merged with De La Hoya revelling in Canelo’s supposed decline. “I’ve been there myself, as an older fighter, and he’s 33 now,” De La Hoya said, remembering that he had been 34 when he also lost to Mayweather, and a year older when Manny Pacquiao battered and stopped him in his final fight in 2008. De La Hoya had 45 pro bouts while Saturday’s contest will be the 65th fight for Canelo, who began boxing professionally at the age of 15.
“I see Canelo being tired,” De La Hoya said. “I see Canelo asking himself: ‘My gosh, do I have to wake up in the morning and do this after winning so much money and so many world titles. I have to get out of my bed wearing my silk pyjamas?’”
De La Hoya grinned. “It’s not motivating any more when you’re living lavishly. But he has a tough fight in front of him. He has a young, hungry lion who wants to take the torch. I strongly believe all the ingredients are there to have a new champion, a new King of Mexico. Canelo is a great fighter. I applaud him and, inside the ring, I’ll always give him respect. But you have to take his age and all the wars and his surgeries into consideration.
“Munguía now has [the renowned trainer] Freddie Roach in his corner. When I saw him train recently, he was very light on his feet. He was throwing combinations. He was sticking and moving and the jab was immaculate. So this weekend it’s time for a changing of the guard.
“I expect Munguía to make it a war. He’s a big kid and a heavy puncher. He has a great chin and he throws a hundred punches a round compared to Canelo, who only throws 10, 15 punches now. If Canelo catches him it’s a different story. That is very possible but we have to take into consideration Munguía’s youth.”
Munguía is 27 and his record is an impressive 43-0. Yet he has not fought the same calibre of opponents Canelo has dispatched while losing only twice before. Has De La Hoya helped Munguía steel himself psychologically for a monumental challenge? “Absolutely. It never hurts to listen to a [former] fighter who’s been in the ring and has taken and given the punches. I strongly feel the jab will be crucial – because nobody throws it today. But Munguía understands the jab is key. Jab and follow-up with combinations, then step away with your jab. His footwork is incredible so I feel very confident Munguía will dethrone Canelo.”
De La Hoya had been less confident before Garcia faced the unbeaten Haney on 20 April. For months before the fight, Garcia had behaved outlandishly on social media and in person. His mental health seemed distressingly poor and his boorish antics continued during the weigh-in when he chugged a bottle of beer while scaling 3.2 pounds over the super-lightweight limit. Garcia had to pay a rumoured $600,000 to Haney, after losing a bet he would make weight, and forfeited the chance to fight for the world title.
After he knocked down Haney three times, and won the fight on a wild night, Garcia claimed it had all been an act to get inside his opponent’s head. “I did have concern,” De La Hoya admitted, “just like the whole world had concerns about Ryan Garcia. But when I got to New York on the Monday of fight week I went straight to Ryan’s hotel and his team told me: ‘Look, he needs help. He can’t fight.’ I go: ‘Wait a second. I saw him in the gym. He looked sensational. Maybe he’s just trolling everybody. Maybe he’s just playing a whole trick on the whole world.’ That’s exactly what happened.”
In the subsequent fanfare for Garcia, his flagrant disregard of the weight cut was almost forgotten. He didn’t seem to care that it was a form of cheating as, after the weigh-in, Garcia posted a message: “Why would I force myself to make weight so I can be weak. Nah. I’m here to win.”
Did such contempt for weight regulations worry De La Hoya? “Absolutely. It’s unprofessional. I don’t condone it. Having that type of advantage is wrong. So there’re concerns about discipline, about keeping your word and holding to your contractual weight. It’s a big concern. But I strongly feel Ryan knew what he was doing all along and it was pretty brilliant on his part to get Haney angry inside the ring and destroy him.”
Everything felt far less brilliant on Wednesday as De La Hoya resumed his vicious spat with Canelo and Garcia’s positive drug test results became public knowledge. It began when De La Hoya read a statement at the press conference: “I would be remiss if I didn’t respond to the man I used to promote,” De La Hoya said of Canelo. “He seems to have trouble remembering who helped him become a true global star. To be clear, I have nothing but respect for Canelo as a fighter. His record and ability speak for themselves. But he has spent much of the last two months insulting me rather than promoting this fight.
“I’ll make it a little bit easier for him. Yes, I have faced a lot of challenges in my life. Yes, I’ve been to rehab several times. Yes, there were some really low points in my life and, yes, there were times when work was not my priority based on my mental health, which I had neglected for so long. But that doesn’t change the fact that Golden Boy built Canelo Alvarez, period. The company he fought under for decades has always had one name, and it’s mine. So put some fucking respect on it.”
Canelo sneered at De La Hoya: “You don’t feel what you’re saying, motherfucker. You have to read it. They write it for you. You don’t write anything, you idiot.”
The profanity and the insults rumbled on and burly security men intervened while, admirably, Munguía sat quietly as the circus unravelled.
It was more sombre and depressing when the Garcia news broke. The fighter himself dismissed the positive results as “lies”. But I wanted to hear from De La Hoya. I sent a message requesting time for us to talk more. The reply was polite but firm. De La Hoya would give no further interviews this week.
Instead, I was sent a brief statement: “Ryan has put out multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances – and we believe him. We are working with his team to determine how this finding came to be and will address this further once we conclude that process.”
The whirlwind is back. Bedlam and uncertainty will shadow the contrasting figures of Canelo, the ageing king of the hill, and Munguía, the eager pretender, as they face each other in a darkened arena late on Saturday night. De La Hoya will be ringside, in his familiar place close to the eye of the storm, smiling and churning inside as he waits for the latest twist in his turbulent life.
