Oscar De La Hoya wasted no time inserting himself into the conversation after Terence Crawford’s historic victory over Canelo Alvarez.
The unanimous decision win on September 13 saw Crawford jump two weight classes and still dominate one of the sport’s biggest stars. This performance immediately reshaped boxing’s pound-for-pound debate. For De La Hoya, though, it was also a chance to reignite his feud with his former fighter.
Within minutes of the judges’ decision being announced, De La Hoya took to Instagram with a video message that was equal parts celebration and shade. Laughing directly into the camera, he declared, “I told you m************! What did you just watch? I only speak the facts!”
The clip, paired with his “Eat More Meat” T-shirt—a pointed dig at Alvarez’s past failed drug test—was pure trolling of his former pupil.
Their animosity isn’t new. According to Sports Illustrated, De La Hoya promoted Canelo for years before their relationship publicly unraveled, leading to lawsuits and bitter interviews. Saturday night’s outcome simply gave De La Hoya more fuel. “I’ve been telling you guys! See you Thursday,” he added in another post, hinting at more to come.
Interestingly, De La Hoya’s confidence wasn’t as strong just days earlier. In a pre-fight interview with Brian Mazique, he leaned on the old boxing adage that “a good little man can’t beat a good big man,” using his own loss to Manny Pacquiao as an example.
He suggested Canelo’s size might be too much for Crawford to handle, but still left room for the upset, saying that if Crawford pulled it off, “give this man the title of the greatest ever.”
By fight week, though, his prediction sharpened. On Instagram, De La Hoya said that unless Canelo scored a knockout in the middle rounds, Crawford would “box his ears off.” He even compared the potential outcome to Floyd Mayweather’s lopsided win over Canelo in 2013, pointing out, “Canelo cannot handle boxers. That’s the bottom line.”
