"He got Canelo beat" - Oscar De La Hoya blasts Eddie Hearn for booking Alvarez vs. Bivol

Oscar De La Hoya believes Eddie Hearn deserves much blame for Canelo Alvarez's defeat to Dmitry Bivol last month.

The Mexican superstar faced off against the WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight Champion last month at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Despite coming into the contest as a massive favorite, Alvarez was outboxed en route to a unanimous decision loss.

Following the contest, Oscar De La Hoya gave his thoughts on the loss. He stated that he believed that the matchup was just a bad one for Alvarez. 'The Golden Boy' has a complicated past with the superstar, as he used to promote Canelo until November 2020.

However, De La Hoya also believes that Eddie Hearn deserves a fair bit of blame for Alvarez's loss to Bivol. The 49-year-old appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, where he blamed the head of Matchroom Boxing for booking the bout.

Discussing the fight between Alvarez and Bivol, the boxing promoter stated:

“It was a lose-lose situation for everyone. Nobody knew Bivol whatsoever. I would’ve promoted Bivol to [make him] a bigger name because nobody knew who he was before he fought Canelo. He was irrelevant, he was nobody... Canelo has a promoter [Hearn] now that obviously doesn’t come from a boxing world. He doesn’t really know the fight game. He got Canelo beat, it was the wrong style."

Watch Oscar De La Hoya's interview on The MMA Hour below:

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Oscar De La Hoya reflects on failed booking with Vitor Belfort

Oscar De La Hoya is glad he didn't return to the ring as planned. Last year, 'The Golden Boy' was set to return to the ring for Triller Fight Club in a fight against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort. However, the fight was canceled two weeks prior due to De La Hoya contracting COVID-19.

During the same MMA Hour appearance, De La Hoya reflected on his failed return to the ring. The former champion admitted that he likely dodged a bullet against Belfort, who knocked out Evander Holyfield last September. 'The Real Deal' replaced De La Hoya at the event.

Discussing his fight with Belfort, De La Hoya said:

"I’m glad I didn’t fight this monster of a fighter because he’s a big guy, and he knows what he’s doing. He’s talented. As old as we were, we can still throw punches. We saw it with Evander Holyfield where he knocked him out. I think I dodged a bullet there."