Oscar De La Hoya has called for a ‘changing of the guard’ amongst boxing stars, predicting Vergil Ortiz will replace Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez as the face of boxing.
Four-division and twice-undisputed champion Canelo has established himself as one of the biggest draws in the sweet science, commercialising his natural boxing ability with carefully selected fights on certain dates.
However, the Mexican has lost some of his star power following his loss to Terence Crawford earlier this month, with the American stepping up two weight classes to take all four of Canelo’s super middleweight belts.
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Now, Golden Boy Promotions chief De La Hoya believes Canelo’s reign is slowly coming to an end, and that a new star must fill his shoes.
Speaking ahead of Ortiz’s next defence of his WBC interim super welterweight title against Erickson Lubin, live on DAZN on November 8, De La Hoya shared: “First of all, I respect Canelo for his boxing abilities, obviously, as a fighter you have to respect that.
“But I truly feel there has to be a changing of the guard. I think that boxing right now needs a new star, boxing needs someone who could carry it forward.
“Vergil Ortiz has everything it takes to become that man.”
De La Hoya has a vested interest in 23-0 (21 KOs) fighter Ortiz, who started his professional career in 2016 by signing a contract with Golden Boy. The relationship continued to strengthen in 2024, when Texas-born Ortiz signed a ‘multi-year’ extension with De La Hoya’s promotion.
It should also be pointed out that De La Hoya’s own relationship with Canelo has soured over the years. After organising a few of Canelo’s early fights, Golden Boy signed a multi-bout contract with the Mexican in 2010, starting a decade-long partnership.
However, that ended in 2020, with Alvarez taking legal action against his former promoter. Last year the pair clashed in the build up to Canelo’s fight with compatriot Jaime Munguia, who at the time was promoted by De La Hoya.
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Despite being keen to talk up his fighter’s prospects, De La Hoya reiterated that Ortiz would be taking things one fight at a time.
The six-division champion continued: “You can never look past any opponent, you can never look past any person inside that ring with you, because you never know – one punch can end it all, and derail your whole plans.
“With Vergil – and he’s smart – it’s one fight at a time. Because every single opponent he faces, every single fighter he faces is out for his head, and is out to get him, is out to dethrone him, is out to take that throne away from Vergil Ortiz. And he knows it.”
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