LOS ANGELES (Sept. 2, 2018) -- Tom Loeffler, promoter of undefeated World Middleweight Champion GENNADY "GGG" GOLOVKIN has called out the team of Canelo Alvarez and specifically, its promoter Oscar De La Hoya. On Sunday, under the headline "Oscar De La Hoya Boldly Claims Gennady Is Unpatriotic," Niall Doran posted on the website Boxing News and Views a story based on a video interview De La Hoya had done posted on You Tube on Aug. 31. The story also stated that De La Hoya "…questioned his {Golovkin's] support of his own country."
"I have no idea what Oscar is talking about but it is not true," said Loeffler. "The truth is Team Golovkin had requested that the national anthems of Kazakhstan, Mexico and the United States be sung before the pay-per-view telecast began so that we could proceed with the fights seamlessly and uninterrupted. HBO supported this position and has always preferred that the anthems take place before the HBO Pay-Per-View telecast begins. To suggest that Gennady is unpatriotic and has no respect for the anthems of his Kazakhstan, Mexico or the U.S., where Gennady resides in southern California, is patently false. Oscar and Canelo owe Gennady yet another apology. This is just another example of why Gennady never believes anything from Canelo's side."
“Look, I mean, they have to stop all this nonsense. I can tell you one thing for instance. Talk about not supporting your own country? The Golovkin people didn’t want to sing the national anthems before the fight. That’s a ritual. Having a national anthem before a championship fight is what you’re supposed to do. It makes it feel like a bigger event. Golovkin’s people didn’t want the Kazakhstan national anthem to be sang, the Mexican national anthem to be sung, the American national anthem to be sung. I mean what else are they going to demand? Jesus, are they going to cancel the fight? It's ridiculous Just go out there and fight!”