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With middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez officially set to take on fellow titleholder Daniel Jacobs this weekend on DAZN, Oscar De La Hoya is officially coming out to quash any thoughts that the results of this fight could be foregone conclusion — being held in Las Vegas after all, where Canelo tends to receive favorable scorecards.
De La Hoya starts off by telling RingTV that the winner of this fight will undoubtedly named the best middleweight in the world before going on to respond to questions about the same three judges who awarded Canelo a win over Gennady Golovkin last year being given this assignment as well.
“Anyone can lose in Las Vegas. I lost in Vegas and apparently I was always the favorite,” De La Hoya points out. “Anybody can lose and I would be surprised if Daniel Jacobs is thinking about that because I know what a professional he is. I can tell you Canelo is going in there with the mentality of winning and I expect Jacobs to do the same. Don’t worry about the judges; worry about the fight.”
The Golden Boy promoter also doubled down on Canelo’s proclamation that he expects Jacobs to be a tougher challenge for him than Golovkin was.
“I understand why Canelo feels that way,” De La Hoya said. “Jacobs is a boxer who can move and throw combinations. He is slick and moves well and can fight too. Jacobs is a different style than what Canelo has faced. Canelo knows what he has in front of him and I believe Jacobs knows what he has in front of him. Jacobs is no dummy. I am sure he prepared well but how can you prepare for a complete fighter like Canelo? That’s why I can’t wait for Saturday night for us to see who is the best middleweight in the world.”
At this time it’s expected that should Canelo win this weekend, he’ll be lined-up to face Golovkin again for a third time this fall. Despite those reports, however, Canelo and his promoter have sort of been dousing a little cold water on that idea, urging Golovkin to first regain a major world title in order to earn a third shot against him. If there doesn’t happen to be a Canelo-GGG 3 fight in tha fall, there’s also be a lot of talk that Canelo could move up in weight for other challenges.