Oscar De La Hoya tried to cover over the cracks of a strained relationship with Canelo Alvarez after undertaking media formalities this week.
After staying away for most of the pre-fight duties, the Golden Boy boss decided to appear for the Sergey Kovalev final press conference.
Sitting next to Canelo at the KA Theatre inside the world-famous MGM Grand, De La Hoya cut a glum figure.
Moments earlier, his prized superstar and number one fighter had walked to the table and completely blanked him.
Oscar De La Hoya
Llegó Canelo y Óscar de la Hoya… 👀👇#CaneloKovalev 🥊
(Vía: @ChavaESPN) pic.twitter.com/22S0gRFE5t
— ESPN KnockOut (@ESPNKnockOut) October 30, 2019
Not a hello or a handshake was on offer as Canelo proved their relationship has gone in reverse of late.
Despite the frosty reception, De La Hoya attempted to put on a brave face as he addressed the packed venue to speak about Saturday’s history-defining night.
“When we first started working with Canelo over a decade ago. We knew he was destined to be great,” said De La Hoya. “I think we are all aware now that we are witnessing greatness in the making.
“What does it mean to be great? To be considered great at anything, a person must be above average, they must exceed what’s normal.
“We say some fighters are good, others are bad, but we reserve the term for those who are considerably above average. Through their various accomplishments they’re able to achieve that status.
“Few fighters in the history of boxing can be considered great. This small group of people develops a fierce ambition and spirit of competition.
“This ambition comes natural to them. For me that’s what motivated me to spend of my teenage years putting aside the amusements of youth for the responsibility of greatness.
“At the same time every natural gift must be cultivated by competition. You need to test your talents with other people who also have that same ambition.
CHALLENGE
“But what happens when those equal strengths and sizes are no longer competitive? Then the task becomes looking for even bigger challenges. I think that’s what makes a fighter great.
“It’s the ambition to succeed, the spirit to compete. The initiative to keep looking for that next challenge.
“This is an accomplishment that has only been achieved by an elite group of fighters.
“Bernard Hopkins did it moving from middleweight to light heavyweight, and I did it by moving several divisions throughout my career,” he added.
The pair ended up being the main topic of conversation on Wednesday, despite the fact that Canelo looked dangerously smaller than Kovalev at the final head-to-head.
Recent publicity involving De La Hoya has obviously not gone down well with Canelo and his team – true or not.
