“No Boxing Fan Wants Caviar And Champagne”: De La Hoya Criticizes Canelo-Crawford’s Promotional Gimmicks, Demands Real War

Oscar De La Hoya trashed Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford during his Clap Back Thursday session this week, criticizing them for their “ridiculous promotion” of their September 13th fight.

Canelo’s Shove: “No Realness”

De La Hoya thought Canelo’s shove of Crawford looked scripted, and an example of fake drama with no realness. He felt it was staged, a choreographed move planned ahead of time.

“The ridiculous promotion for Canelo-Crawford has given me lots of ammunition. Let’s take it back to last week with a photo of Canelo and Crawford having dinner together,” said Oscar De La Hoya in his Clap Back Thursdays session on social media. “They’re best friends. They’re buddies like they’re family friends?”

Fans Fume Over Dinner Photo

Many fans were put off by the photo that emerged of Crawford, Canelo, and Turki Alalshikh sitting together at dinner, seated at a large table filled with food. To some fans, it looked like a meeting to discuss how the press conferences and fight would unfold. They saw it as a coaching session.

“Could you imagine Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier having dinner together? No boxing fan wants to see two fighters having dinner together. We want to see that an actual war is about to happen. Not caviar and champagne,” said De La Hoya.

The dinner was a bad idea on Canelo and Crawford’s part, as it reinforced the perception among fans that their superfight is merely a money grab. In other words, it’s a gimmick fight with no sporting value. Crawford is being allowed to jump up two weight classes and get an immediate title shot against Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship. There’s nothing sporting about it. The fight is a blend of exhibition, WWE, and poorly acted theater.

“Canelo, before you fight The Undertaker, can you please fight David Benavidez?” said De La Hoya, reacting to Alvarez saying during the press conference that he could fight on WWE. “Here’s the moment where the script told them to shove each other. Come on, is anyone else not buying this drama? Crawford, if you want to make Canelo mad, just tell the truth about him and his tainted meat.”

Crawford’s Act Looked”Pre-Planned”

Many fans thought Canelo’s shove of Crawford looked staged. What looked even more artificial was the way Crawford approached him. He looked like an actor counting steps during rehearsal, walking to his stage position to begin reciting his memorized lines.

Canelo will NOT fight David Benavidez because the chances are high that he’d be knocked out or embarrassed in a one-sided loss. If Alvarez thought he could beat ‘The Mexican Monster,’ he’d have taken the fight years ago to shut him up.