Turki Alalshikh Doesn’t Hold Back About Oscar De La Hoya’s Statement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dean Koutouratsas | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 6:01 PM ET

Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya made some claims about Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford’s super middleweight bout that Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority, wasn’t too pleased with.

De La Hoya posted a video on Instagram as part of his “Thursday Clap Back” series, in which he pointed out some issues he had with the early start time for Alvarez vs. Crawford.

“Listen to this, the fight will take place in broad daylight on September 13 in Las Vegas,” De La Hoya said. “Canelo is going to fight in the day on Netflix just to accommodate the UFC [Fight Night] card later that day on another channel.

“Does that mean this fight doesn’t matter? Do they not give a damn about the fans or the ratings? Why does Canelo have to fight in broad daylight on Mexican Independence Day weekend?”

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A post shared by Oscar De La Hoya (@oscardelahoya)

De La Hoya is referring to UFC Fight Night Noche in San Antonio, which will honor Mexican Independence Day. The boxing match is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, which is 5 p.m. in Las Vegas. Normally, the main card would start around 11 p.m. ET, or 8 p.m. local time.

On the other hand, UFC’s main card is slated to start at 10 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT. The fights on that card have yet to be announced.

“... UFC, with a bunch of fighters nobody knows, will be in prime time,” De La Hoya continued. “[Alvarez] fought in Riyadh on May 5, and now he’s going to fight during the most important weekend for boxing.”

Turki Alalshikh dismisses Oscar De La Hoya's claims about Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford ️#CaneloCrawford live on Netflix l Sept 13th in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/BgFGaEIoZE
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) June 20, 2025

Alalshikh responded sarcastically to De La Hoya’s remarks during a press conference for Alvarez and Crawford’s bout on Friday.

“I decided with Dana White to have breakfast in MGM at 10 a.m.,” Alalshikh said. “Then we will go to the arena to have the fights quickly, and we will go for dinner.

“Oscar De La Hoya wastes my time with this question. Of course it’s big, this is boxing, the No. 1 sport in the world. Canelo and Crawford.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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