Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not think highly of Oscar De La Hoya. That’s nothing new. But it was still a little surprising to see the undefeated boxer take a jab at the Golden Boy by re-posting a boxing meme to his Instagram account on Monday.
Mayweather posted a meme that mocked De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez. De La Hoya, who lost to Floyd in 2007, said he had been giving Canelo — one of his promotional company’s most popular fighters — a blueprint on how to beat Mayweather. Mayweather won the fight easily (even if he was only credited with a majority decision win). Floyd earned the right to mock Oscar for saying before the fight that he had given Canelo a blueprint to victory, but seeing him post the meme was a surprise.
De La Hoya entered rehab last week and did not attend the fight, which was a pretty shocking turn of events and interesting side-story in the buildup to the bout.
Last week, Mayweather made his thoughts on De La Hoya pretty clear.
“Richard Schaefer’s a good guy, but Oscar’s [not],” Mayweather told the LA Times regarding Golden Boy Promotions’ top two figures.
Mayweather also told The Times that De La Hoya’s public appearances were “real embarrassing. I wouldn’t even show up to the fights if I were him.”
Maybe Floyd’s comments hit Oscar hard, because the Golden Boy ended up going to rehab. And Oscar’s biased pick of Canelo to win the fight proved to be a foolish one.
UPDATE: Mayweather issued a statement of apology for the photo and said he was not the one who posted it.
“It’s unfortunate that a stupid picture was posted to my Instagram account earlier today that was not posted by me or authorized by me to post,” Mayweather said in a statement sent to Larry Brown Sports and other outlets.
“As I clearly stated during my fight week and again in the post-fight press conference, I completely support Oscar De La Hoya and his family during this difficult time in his life. Although we have had our differences in the past, I stand by him unconditionally and would never personally disrespect him or anyone else who struggles with addiction.
“I apologize to Oscar and his family for this posting. I wish him well and am rooting for him to win his fight too. I also apologize to all of my followers for this ridiculous post. I have no ill-will towards anyone and have repeatedly stated that I only seek positivity in my life and for others.”
