Canelo Vs. Crawford – Has The Build-Up Flopped?

The first major point of contention took place when the two fighters were pictured having dinner together alongside Turki Alalshikh. The picture drew up mass controversy since the pair are rivals who will be looking to hurt each other. De La Hoya drew comparisons with how Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, and Mitch Green would never have done such a thing. 

However, things did change during the face-off for their second presser. Canelo pushed Crawford, as the two were then separated. That showed the fighters were taking this seriously, only for De La Hoya to shut that down. He felt the interaction was staged, as he highlighted his presser in the Jaime Munguia fight. De La Hoya traded verbals with Canelo in that presser after Alvarez suggested that Oscar was trying to take money from him. De La Hoya and Canelo nearly came to blows before they were separated. 

De La Hoya also had a few words to say about Dana White. The latter makes his first major appearance in boxing as a promoter. His sole experience was the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight. However, this match-up is more competitive, as it is expected to be the biggest bout of this year. 

But it is also important to bear in mind Oscar’s bad blood with Canelo and Dana White. Oscar promoted Canelo before the Mexican left, accusing Golden Boy of breach of contract. Meanwhile, White and Oscar have had blood, with Dana being vocal about Oscar’s prior struggles with drug use. Oscar did not hold back on his disappointment with the promotion. 

Oscar Reacts

“So the ridiculous promotion of Canelo vs Crawford has given me lots of good ammunition. First, let’s take it back to last week when this photo was taken of Canelo and Crawford having dinner together [with Turki Alalshikh] like they’re best friends?! Like their buddies, like they were family friends?!

“I mean, can you imagine Muhammad Ali or like Joe Frazier having dinner together? Can you imagine Mike Tyson and Mitch Green before a brawl? What the f-ck. No boxing fan wants to see two fighters having dinner together. We want bad blood, we want anticipation, we want to feel like an actual war is about to happen, not f-cking caviar and champagne together.

“So after their dinner date together, Canelo and Crawford sat on the press tour…Crawford, if you actually want to make Canelo mad, just tell the truth about him and his tainted meat…And when confronted about his plans, Dana White chose to be the neanderthal that he is, doding the question [about whether he’d be at this fight or the UFC event] and calling me a douchebag. It’s ironic coming from somebody that’s a f-ckin’ walking billboard for Affliction,” De La Hoya