Oscar De La Hoya believes that Canelo Alvarez needs to get his dedication back to boxing if he wants to come back from his loss to Dmitry Bivol.
Oscar thinks there’s some denial going on with Canelo believing he deserved the win last Saturday night against WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs).
That’s a fight that De La Hoya says he had Bivol winning 9-3 or 8-4, and it was NOT close. Bivol totally dominated Canelo, outboxing and wearing him out.
De La Hoya says he’s seen how Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) is putting a lot of energy into playing golf in between fights, and he believes that’s taking his focus off his training.
“It might be the truth. The truth is the truth,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV in reacting to Ryan Garcia saying that Canelo Alvarez isn’t as dedicated as he once was.
“What I saw, and I see everything, Canelo has been playing a lot of golf,” De La Hoya continued on why Alvarez may have lost the fight to Dmitry Bivol. “Seriously, he’s been playing a lot of golf.”
Oscar could be right about Canelo putting too much energy into playing golf and even watching it during camp on TV. That’s a sport that retired people tend to put their energy in.
It’s also perceived as a rich man’s sport for wealthy people to rub shoulders with other super-rich to help make deals. With Canelo focusing so much on golf, he seems disengaged when it comes to boxing.
Obviously, he can’t be that way when fighting high-caliber opposition like Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, and David Benavidez.
“From experience, I used to play a lot of golf in between fights and in between training camps,” said De La Hoya. “It takes a lot out of you. Yeah, you’re out there for six hours. You’re standing, your legs are weak, and you’re focused.
“A fighter needs to be focused. Yeah, you’re back, everything. Go back to the drawing board; that’s it. Golf, you can play when you’re 90-years-old. Go back to the basics.
“I don’t know who put that in his head,” said De La Hoya when told that Canelo can probably forget about his dreams of challenging IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for his titles at 201 lbs.
“When you change something drastic like your diet overnight, you run the risk of it not working for your body, and it not adjusting properly,” said De La Hoya about Canelo recently becoming a vegetarian.
“Maybe he should have tried it in between fights or something, but if he feels good with it, so be it, but I saw him a little tired,” said Oscar on Canelo, looking tired during his fight last Saturday night against Dmitry Bivol.
“I hate to say it, but to me, it looked like a 9 to 3, 8 to 4 fight with Bivol being on top. He has to be; it’s hard to swallow that pill. It’s hard to be honest with yourself when you lose.
“Just go back to the drawing board. You tried, and you went out on your shield,” said De La Hoya on what Canelo needs to do for him to come back from this loss.
