Former promoter of Canelo Alvarez and boxing Hall of Famer, Oscar De La Hoya, has given his own honest take on Alvarez’s career and boxing ability. In an interview held with multiple outlets, the former multi-division world champion seemed to have doubts as to whether Canelo Alvarez could still compete against other top competitors following his match against John Ryder.

“When you’re a fighter and you have somebody hurt, you finish him.” De La Hoya stated, referencing Canelo Alvarez’s (59-2-2, 39 KO’s) inability to knock or stop John Ryder (32-6, 18 KO’s) even though he did manage to knock his British opponent down and broke his nose during the match.

“It’s just what you’re supposed to do and I think that’s what the 50.000 people that attended in Guadalajara wanted to see.” Oscar De La Hoya continued. “It’s no secret that Canelo is at the tail end of his career. If somebody tells me otherwise then I think I’m going blind.“

Canelo Alvarez first started his professional boxing career at the age of 16 in 2005 where he would go on to have a career that’s spanned for almost two decades. During that period, Alvarez became a world champion in multiple divisions and seemed to crown his career by becoming undisputed at 168-pounds after defeating then-WBO champion Caleb Plant in 2021.

But things have seemed to have gone slowly downhill for Canelo Alvarez since then. After losing to Light-Heavyweight Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KO’s) in May of 2022, Canelo Alvarez would go on to compete against Gennady Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KO’s) and John Ryder but seemed to be unable to impress in both matches. In September of 2022 when he faced Golovkin, Alvarez was met with a clearly older and declined Golovkin as opposed to who he faced earlier, but seemed to fail to push through with the expectations of a knockout or stoppage.

The same thing occurred with John Ryder who despite his status as the WBO interim champion was highly overlooked as a contender, and despite suffering a broken nose and a knockdown managed to hold on to prevent the Mexican champion from stopping him or knocking him out.

This has led to suggestion that Canelo Alvarez’s ability to finish opponents has declined, if not his boxing ability entirely.

Oscar De La Hoya’s opinion on Alvarez’s decline is shared by many other contemporaries in the sport, including the likes of boxing trainer Teddy Atlas, father and trainer of David Benavidez, Jose Benavidez Sr., had remarked the same last year while John Ryder also believed as such during his post-match press conference following his fight with Canelo Alvarez.

When asked on whether he would throw his best fighter at Super Middleweight, Jaime Munguia (41-0, 33 K’s) ― who like Alvarez hails from Mexico, in the ring with Canelo Alvarez the boxer-turned-promoter seemed eager to match the two against one other,

“In a split-second.” De La Hoya answered to the question of the prospect of a bout between Munguia and Alvarez.

“Canelo not wanting to fight fellow Mexican fighters.” De La Hoya replied when asked on what the issues were in creating the fight. “Which is kind of absurd, cause if you’re a fighter you’re a fighter. You fight anybody that’s on top, you fight anybody who is in your way, you fight anybody who is gonna create a major fight for you.

“Munguia is like right there knocking on his door. And like I said before, if I have to pressure these fighters to fight Munguia then that’s what I’m going to do. That’s the route I’m gonna take.“

Canelo Alvarez has previously publicly stated in the past that he had no taste for fighting other Mexican fighters, which has hampered both Munguia and David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KO’s) ― both Super Middleweights of Mexican descent ― from gaining an opportunity to face Alvarez, even with the latter still being the WBC Interim champion which would normally have seen him face Canelo Alvarez within the past year.

So far, Canelo Alvarez seems to be angling at an opportunity to face Dmitry Bivol again but the rematch seems to hang in the balance with Alvarez wishing for the fight to take place at 175 pounds, while Bivol seems intent on fighting for all of the Mexican’s titles at 168 lbs.