In a significant development for the upcoming boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez coming up on Saturday, promoter and legendary athlete Oscar De La Hoya will miss the fight over the weekend, as he has decided to enter rehab.
According to ESPN.com, De La Hoya will return to rehab for substance abuse issues and that will force him to miss the fight Saturday, which is an anticipated matchup between Mayweather and Alvarez, which will go down in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. De La Hoya has been in rehab before for issues and he has missed fights that his Golden Boy promotion company has promoted and this is the latest on that list.
De La Hoya is considered a boxing legend and he has won 10-world-titles and he made the announcement of his move into rehab in a news release and said that he wanted to put his health first for his family. De La Hoya explained that he spoke with Alvarez about his issues and that it won't be a problem for the fighter and that the match will go on as scheduled. The fight is greatly anticipated, as any Mayweather fight is, but also because of the potential of Alvarez, who is considered a quality fighter.
According to ESPN.com, De La Hoya has had issues in the past with drugs and alcohol and he did not specifically say what his rehab was related to. The 40-year-old is a huge force in boxing through his promotional company and he also previously missed a fight with Bernard Hopkins after he entered rehab and now the retired boxer is a match promoter for one of the biggest companies in boxing.
"Canelo Alvarez and I have big fights coming up this weekend," De La Hoya, who has been something of a mentor to the 23-year-old Alvarez, said in the statement. "His is the ring and mine in treatment. I will not be at the fight to cheer Canelo to victory since I have voluntarily admitted myself into a treatment facility."
