De La Hoya suggests Canelo wasn't 100 percent focused on boxing going into Bivol fight

Oscar De La Hoya believes Canelo Alvarez was not 100 percent focused on boxing.

On Tuesday, while speaking with reporters while promoting Saturday’s Golden Boy Promotions card card headlined by Gilberto Ramirez’s fight against Dominic Boesel at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, De La Hoya questioned whether the beloved Mexican superstar has been playing too many rounds of golf.

“What I saw, and I see everything, Canelo has been playing a lot of golf,” he stated. “From experience, I used to play a lot of golf in between fights and in between training camps. It takes a lot out of you. Yeah, you’re out there for six hours. You’re standing, your legs are weak, and you’re focused. A fighter needs to be focused. Yeah, you’re back, everything. Go back to the drawing board – that’s it. Golf, you can play when you’re 90-years-old. Go back to the basics.”

During training camp, Alvarez revealed he played golf for nearly four hours a day, six days a week on top of his two daily boxing workouts.

Furthermore, Alvarez switched to a mostly vegan diet in preparation for Bivol. De La Hoya suggested that may have been why he looked so sluggish throughout the fight.

“When you change something drastic like your diet overnight, you run the risk of it not working for your body, and it not adjusting properly,” De La Hoya said. “Maybe he should have tried it in between fights or something, but if he feels good with it, so be it, but I saw him a little tired.”

Like most ringside observers, De La Hoya saw Bivol easily winning.

“I hate to say it, but to me, it looked like a 9 to 3, 8 to 4 fight with Bivol being on top. He has to be. It’s hard to swallow that pill. It’s hard to be honest with yourself when you lose,” he added. “Just go back to the drawing board. You tried, and you went out on your shield.”