The International Boxing Federation stripped perhaps the best active middleweight boxer in the world of his championship. Canelo Alvarez is an incredible 52-1-2 meaning he possesses more wins than Floyd Mayweather Jr and he’s only 29 years old. The decision to take the belt away was reportedly due to Alvarez and Golden Boy Productions refusing a fight with mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Needless to say Oscar De La Hoya was not a happy camper and he issued a statement to attempt to shed light on the situation.
“We are extremely disappointed at the IBF for forcing the world’s best fighter to relinquish his world title. We have been in serious negotiations with Sergiy Derevyanchenko’s promoter. We offered his team an unprecedented amount of money for a fighter of his limited stature and limited popularity, but the truth is that I’m now certain they never had any intention of making a deal. But instead they wanted to force us to relinquish Canelo’s belt. This is an insult to boxing and more importantly an insult to the boxing fans of the world. This decision validates already existing concerns about the credibility of the IBF championship. Canelo inherited a mandatory challenger by defeating Daniel Jacobs, the man who beat Derevyanchenko, so to strip him of his title without giving him enough time to make the best fight possible is truly what is wrong with boxing, and I plan to aggressively consider all legal actions possible.”
What do you think of all of this?