Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya Facing a Serious Perception Problem

Canelo Alvarez continued what has been a very bad year for British fighters who stepped up to challenge the top two middleweights in the world (oops, Canelo isn't a middleweight, yet, or so he tells us) with a ninth-round stoppage of Liam Smith before 50,000-plus fans on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

His credentials as the new face of boxing are buoyed by the large number of people who packed into Jerry World to see him face an opponent who carried precisely zero name recognition on this side of the pond and who most felt would wilt early.

They were all there for him, and he didn't disappoint, sending his foe home with a busted up face, rearranged insides and sans the title belt that was the only marketable force behind making the fight.

It should've been all celebration.

But it wasn't.

Max Kellerman entered the ring shortly after Canelo delivered the killshot to the body that left Smith writhing around on the mat in obvious distress and probably wondering why he ever left Liverpool, and there was really only one question that needed answering.

Max is a professional. So he presented the cinnamon-haired star with the obligatory inquires about the action that had just taken place in the ring before moving on to the real substance regarding when boxing's new face would face its boogeyman.

"Here comes the obligatory GGG question, which you're going to be asked at every fight until that fight happens," Kellerman asked Canelo through his interpreter on the HBO pay-per-view broadcast.

"And while no one questions your willingness to fight, your promoter seems reluctant to make that fight right away, and you seem to be going along with that plan. I think the boxing world wants to know why."

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Talk about putting a guy—and his promoter—on the spot on the big stage.

Canelo had to be prepared for the moment, since it's virtually all anyone wants to talk about when his name is brought up in conversation, and he began his response to Kellerman by once again emphasizing his position as the best in the sport right now.

By that we assume he meant the sport's top draw. Even without the pay-per-view numbers (that aren't expected to be spectacular) from Saturday night, that is beyond a doubt the truth.

What came next, and was followed up by his promoter Oscar De La Hoya at the post-fight presser, had to remind fight fans that while everyone involved with Team Canelo is trying to emphasize his departure from the Floyd Mayweather era, some old habits die hard.

Mayweather, for the record, has supported Canelo's position, per FightHype.com (h/t Keith Idec of Boxing Scene).

Interesting, given that De La Hoya and Mayweather were fierce rivals, and the Golden Boy went out of his way to criticize the Mayweather-dominated era of the sport whenever he got a chance.

Canelo claimed on the broadcast that his team had made an offer to Tom Loeffler, who promotes Golovkin, about a month ago for "twice or three times as much to make the fight." He didn’t give a number, but we presume that multiplier was based on the highest purse of GGG's career.

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De La Hoya took those comments one step further, per David P. Greisman of Boxing Scene.

"Thirty days ago I made an offer to Triple G and his people," De La Hoya said, per Greisman. "I made a significant offer, an eight-figure offer. I believe it's an offer that was two, three or even four times as much as he's ever made. And I haven't heard back, and that's the bottom line."

If you're having flashbacks to the tit-for-tat and back-and-forth heading nowhere that defined the decade-long Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao saga, then perhaps you're not wrong. Those type of unverified out-of-the-blue comments were par for the course.

They became a negotiating tactic in and of themselves and a way of kicking the can further down the road without actually having to show your hand. And in this case they scream of something that rhymes with pull sit.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times tweeted early Sunday morning that Loeffler had confirmed to him that preliminary talks had taken place but "nothing of substance."

Who is telling the truth?

Nobody knows but the principals, but here is what we do know.

Canelo is no coward. He's taken on some of the toughest comers in the sport and probably more than once against the best wishes of De La Hoya. If you think he doesn't want to fight Golovkin, then you don't understand the makeup of this kid.

Still, he doesn't get a complete pass.

He has the responsibility to force the issue. No more Amir Khans. No more Liam Smiths. If Golovkin is the fight you want, then make it happen.

If you're going to criticize an Al Haymon fighter—which happens often—for not putting his foot down and demanding big fights, then you can't let Canelo off that hook, either. He's the money maker. Oscar needs him more than he needs Oscar.

Loeffler has developed a reputation for being a straight shooter and one of the easiest guys to deal with in the sport today. Golovkin is far from a diva, and the consensus in the sport is that if you want to fight him then it's not hard to make it happen.

It doesn't make sense that Team GGG would turn down an "eight-figure offer" when they've had such a hard time securing significant fights.

De La Hoya is the central figure here.

He's the one with the perception problem.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports penned a piece in the weeks leading up to the Canelo-Smith fight accusing the boxing Hall of Famer—who took on literally all comers as a fighter—of lying to the fans regarding his intentions.

We're not saying that's what he's doing here, but he's got a lot of heavy lifting—which requires more than words—to prove to boxing fans that he's serious and not just playing them for suckers.