The recent news that Canelo Alvarez has been stripped of the IBF middleweight title has promoter Oscar De La Hoya upset over how the sanctioning body conducted the last few weeks in regards to the fighter’s obligations to make a mandatory defense.
The IBF previously ordered Alvarez to fight mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko with a purse bid already place. Negotiations went nowhere and with the fight perceived dead, the IBF moved forward with stripping Alvarez of the title, leaving him with just one world title at 160 pounds (the WBA “Super” title).
Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, who promote Alvarez, released the following statement denouncing the IBF for its actions and threatened to move forward with legal action.
“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 important 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 legal actions possibly.”
Alvarez had been trying to secure an opponent for his next fight. However, after failed attempts at landing fights against Gennadiy Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev and now Derevyanchenko, Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions had to postpone their planned September 14 fight date.
Though Alvarez still has no opponent, Alvarez still figures to return to the ring by the end of the year. Alvarez signed a multi-year deal with DAZN and has already fought twice for the streaming service. Alvarez has not fought since May when he defeated Jacobs to unify the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.
