Canelo Alvarez rejects Gennady Golovkin offer of 50-50 purse split and is pursuing other fights, Oscar De La Hoya says

Canelo Alvarez’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya reported Tuesday that the former two-division champion has rejected Gennady Golovkin’s push for a 50-50 purse split and is pursuing a Sept. 15 non-title bout against Daniel Jacobs.

Alvarez twice tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol in February, causing his scheduled May 5 rematch against unbeaten, three-belt champion Golovkin to be scrapped.

“Canelo has a chance to rectify everything in one fight. He could’ve fixed it by beating Golovkin,” said Abel Sanchez, who is Golovkin’s trainer. “Now this will hang over his head for who knows how long. It will be discussed how he ran away from Golovkin.”

De La Hoya told ESPN that “the Canelo train has left” Golovkin and that De La Hoya has initiated talks with former World Boxing Assn. secondary middleweight champion Jacobs for a Mexican Independence weekend fight likely in Las Vegas.

“If that’s the case, that’s the case,” said Sanchez, who has made a strong point of understanding what the majority of Mexico’s powerful fan base thinks of Alvarez’s decisions.

“Gennady has made it perfectly clear what he wants,” after accepting less than 40% of the purse when he fought Alvarez to a draw in September.

“Not only did Gennady lose the major purse in May, Canelo’s arrogant behavior has bothered Gennady. And after taking all the concessions before, doing it again is an insult to Gennady.”

Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler said he’s hoping Golden Boy President Eric Gomez’s calmer head will prevail, saying De La Hoya has been “all over the place,” with his assessment of negotiations.

“It doesn’t seem too complicated,” Loeffler said. “It’s the biggest fight out there for both guys.”

Sanchez noted Alvarez’s weaker financial showings on choosing to fight the likes of Liam Smith. Golovkin’s fight with Jacobs sold fewer than 200,000 pay-per-views last year.

“Giving up the 50% he was going to get from a Golovkin fight will leave him with less for taking on Jacobs, and it’s a big chance,” Sanchez said. “A big chance.”