The war of words between Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Álvarez has resulted in legal action being taken.

Per ESPN's Mike Coppinger, De La Hoya issued a cease-and-desist letter to Álvarez over "defamatory allegations" after the super middleweight champion alleged he stole money from fighters.

Ricardo P. Cestero, De La Hoya's attorney, wrote Canelo "falsely accused Oscar of a crime with the specific intention of supposedly warning other boxers not to do business with Oscar or Golden Boy" in the letter obtained by Coppinger.

"Clearly, Canelo internationally defamed Oscar and Golden Boy," the letter stated. "Canelo's statements were also made with actual malice. ... Oscar and Golden Boy reserve all rights to sue Canelo for the damages caused by these defamatory accusations, including punitive damages designed to ensure Canelo learns his lesson."

Gregory M. Smith, an attorney for Alvarez, issued a statement to Coppinger about the cease-and-desist letter:

"Following the termination of his relationship with Golden Boy, Alvarez audited Golden Boy's payments and deductions under his prior contracts. The audit found that Alvarez was owed money. Court records show that GGG also audited Golden Boy and found that he had also been underpaid. GGG then sued Golden Boy for the missing funds."

The situation between De La Hoya and Alvarez occurred during Wednesday's press conference for Canelo's bout with Jaime Munguia.

After De La Hoya spoke about some of his past issues and brought up Alvarez testing positive for clenbuterol prior to his 2018 bout with Gennady Golovkin, Canelo responded by calling him an "idiot" and implied he took money from fighters.

"This idiot, this [guy] here to my left, try not to forget that I was already 'Canelo' when I came to the United States and that he only profited from my name. He never lost a single cent, but instead made money," Alvarez said. "Have you already paid Golovkin what you wanted to steal from him?"

Golovkin filed a lawsuit against Golden Boy Promotions in March 2022 seeking at least $3 million in damages stemming from the 2018 bout with Alvarez.

The complaint noted Golovkin wanted to be paid interest on the $9 million he was still owed in January 2021 as part of the financial upside for the fight.

Alvarez previously fought under the Golden Boy Promotions banner before filing a lawsuit against the promotion, De La Hoya and DAZN in September 2020. He alleged breach of contract after DAZN refused to pay the $35 million he was guaranteed per fight as part of a 10-fight deal with the streaming service.

The lawsuit was settled two months later, with Alvarez allowed to become a free agent.

Canelo is scheduled to defend the undisputed super middleweight title against Munguia on Saturday night.