Tensions erupt between Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya at presser - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez, boxing's top star, and his former promoter, Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya, engaged in a heated verbal exchange at a Wednesday news conference ahead of Alvarez's undisputed super middleweight championship defense vs. Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia on Saturday.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO De La Hoya, Munguia's co-promoter, instructed Alvarez from the MGM Grand dais to «put some f---ing respect» on De La Hoya's name, a response to the bad blood between the pair that's simmered since their 10-year promoter-fighter relationship ended in 2020.

«Yes, I've been to rehab several times,» De La Hoya said. «Yes, there were some really low points in my life. And yes, there were times that work was not my priority based on my mental health, which I had neglected for so long. But that doesn't change the fact that Golden Boy built Canelo over this period.»

Then De La Hoya did his best to poke Alvarez by mentioning his positive test for the banned substance clenbuterol ahead of his 2018 rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin.

Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) seethed, jumped up from his seat and unleashed a tirade of expletives at De La Hoya as chaos ensued on the stage.

«This idiot, this [guy] here to my left, try not to forget that I was already 'Canelo' when I came to the United States and that he only profited from my name,» said Alvarez, whose first name is Saul but is now usually referred to as the mononym Canelo. «He never lost a single cent, but instead made money. Have you already paid Golovkin what you wanted to steal from him?»

Alvarez, 33, was referring to GGG's lawsuit against Golden Boy that was filed in March 2022 seeking upward of $3 million, money owed from that rematch with Alvarez. De La Hoya told ESPN