Perhaps not even Terence Crawford was as happy as Oscar De La Hoya was when Canelo Alvarez lost his undisputed super middleweight crown earlier this month, and after taking some time to bask in the satisfaction,
the Golden Boy promoter was asked about what advice he would give to Canelo at this point.
“The only thing that I can tell him or give him advice is ‘get a new trainer,’” De La Hoya said. “I can’t advise him on retiring or staying in boxing, that’s a very personal decision. But I can say get a new trainer, you’ll do better, a new trainer will teach you different tricks. Imagine him getting one of the best trainers in the world like a Ronnie Shields who’s going to teach you footwork, who’s going to teach you speed and movement and not be so heavy on your feet.
“So imagine with his power and his reflexes — he still has a chance to fight several more fights with the elites, but he needs a new trainer.”
De La Hoya was then asked about what Canelo was experiencing during the fight with Crawford.’
“It’s called frustration. When you’re facing a Floyd, he got frustrated. When he faced Bivol, he got frustrated, tried to lift him up and body slam him in the ring. When he got hit by Crawford and he took that deep breath, he’s frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, Canelo facing the right opponent that is going to stay in front of him, that’s going to fight, that’s going to make it a brawl, Canelo knocks ‘em out.
“So I’m not saying Canelo’s shot or done, no. It’s far from it. It’s all on the matchmaking, it’s all who you put in front of him. It’s all about squeezing that last dollars from the fans, Canelo.”
All things considered, an unusually tempered take from De La Hoya on the topic of Canelo.
