Oscar De La Hoya rips Dana White for booking Mayweather vs. McGregor before ‘GGG’-Canelo

With Conor McGregor’s blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather set to take place on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, there are some who believe it will steal the thunder of Gennady Golovkin’s heavily anticipated middleweight title clash with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, which is scheduled to happen three weeks after.

“GGG” vs. Canelo is set for Sept. 16 at very same venue as McGregor-Mayweather: T-Mobile Arena

And the chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, isn’t too pleased with the proximity of dates.

De La Hoya was at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., on Wednesday, doing the car wash with his two prizefighters Golovkin and Canelo. During one segment, he was asked what he thought when he heard the Mayweather-McGregor pay-per-view was official for Aug. 26.

“It was disrespectful,” he said. “I would have thought that Dana White would have a little more respect with this boxing event taking place, because look, you just don’t do that. I mean, it’s like having the Super Bowl and then three weeks later the World Series takes place, the final game. It just doesn’t happen.”

The UFC and McGregor are sharing in the revenue that will be generated by the mega-crossover bout with Mayweather, which is being promoted by Mayweather Promotions. De La Hoya has voiced his displeasure with the bout, posting on his Facebook page that boxing “might not ever recover” from the spectacle of the inexperienced McGregor going against Mayweather.

Dana White has since called De La Hoya “f*cking nuts” for those comments, insisting he would have a different tune if the fight were happening under Golden Boy Promotions.

When asked if this booking of a big money event three weeks in front of another one under a different promotion isn’t just competition, De La Hoya reiterated the lack of respect he perceives.

“Well we have the whole year to stage these types of big events,” he said. “They could have maybe staged it in November or December but, look, it is what it is. We have a superfight here. We have a real fight, and that’s exactly what we’re focusing on.”

As for what Canelo thinks of Mayweather-McGregor, the Mexican-born boxer said the fight lacked intrigue due to the discrepancy in boxing experience.

“As a fighter, I’m really not interested in watching it,” he said through De La Hoya as a translator. “Because McGregor has no experience in boxing, and we all know what’s going to take place. It’s going to be an easy, one-sided boxing match for Mayweather, so I’m really not interested.”