In this video interview with Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya, he offers his thoughts on the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev fight and what might make the difference for his fighter, Canelo. Check out some excerpts below...
De La Hoya on if they think they’re catching Sergey Kovalev at just the right time for Canelo:
“I think Canelo saw something in him, in his armor, maybe there’s a kink in the armor, but when he fought for the world title four weeks ago, I didn’t see any weaknesses. I just didn’t. He fought a younger guy, a stronger guy than probably Canelo is, and he knocked him out with a jab. So I think Kovalev is better than ever. I think he’s not when he fought Bernard Hopkins but he’s not far from that.”
On if he had to warn Canelo about the dangers of moving up two weight classes for this fight, particularly with someone with a good jab like Kovalev:
“It is a power jab, he has has problems with power jabs. The difference is gonna be the movement, the side to side movement with Kovalev. He’s not a fighter who boxes you, he’s not a fighter who’s elusive. He does know how to box, he does know how to throw straight punches but he’s gonna be stationary — that might be the difference.”
On if there’s any comparison between Canelo-Kovalev and his own fight against Bernard Hopkins:
“I hope not [laughs]. No, it’s different. I was more of a boxer-puncher, more on my feet, obviously Hopkins was more of a technician. It’s different but the size [difference] is almost the same. Hopkins was a big guy, a strong puncher and he’s a very calculated puncher. Kovalev, you can make an argument of him having the same style...I think it’s gonna be one of those fights where whoever goes in hard, whoever goes in wanting to get the knockout is gonna get it.
“The first round is gonna determine who’s gonna dictate the pace.”
On why this fight was difficult to make:
“Look, when you’re Golden Boy, you have a target on your back. And everybody wants a piece of the pie. And every promoter out there wants to ruin your plans and derail your vision. And it happens a lot these days, sadly speaking. But we are who we are, we do what we do. And we’re excited and happy we would be able to to make this fight happen, we were excited that we have many fights to go — we have a great business relationship and we’re gonna move forward and give you guys the best fights.”