Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper was much more subdued when he met with reporters on Wednesday than he was in the aftermath of a season-ending 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

And his first order of business was to apologize for his postgame comments in which he suggested that the league ‘might as well put skirts on’ goaltenders after a pair of interference penalties nullified Lightning goals in the first and second periods.

‘Quite frankly, it was wrong,’ Cooper said of his comments, which were part of a four-minute diatribe after the game. ‘It’s pained me more than the actual series loss.’

With the Lightning facing elimination in Game 5, the first overturned call erased what would have been a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead.

Cooper called it a ‘turning point’ in the game, though he later refused to blame the officials for the loss. However, he didn’t hold back in his criticism after his team was eliminated.

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‘It’s like prison rules in the playoffs,’ Cooper said during his postgame rant, ‘but it’s not prison rules for the goalie the second something happens? We might as well put skirts on them then if that’s how it’s going to be.’

Cooper said Wednesday he wished he could take that comment back, especially when he had to go home and explain what he said to his daughters.

With the Lightning eliminated, the top-seeded Panthers advance to play the winner of the series between Boston and Toronto in the Eastern Conference’s second round. The Bruins lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 set for Thursday night in Boston.

Appropriate, then, that the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees informally tipped off a pennant race that seems to be gathering like a wave, powerful in both aesthetic pleasure and narrative punch.

Big Bucks vs. Young Bucks.

Just Win vs. Win Curves. MVPs of the past vs. their likely successors.

Sure, these four games that closed out April and welcome May – the Orioles won the first two matchups – will only mean so much come September. Yet after two seasons of circling each other in the American League East – the Orioles too green in 2022 when the Yankees won 99 games, the Yankees an 82-win mess as Baltimore won 101 last year – Baltimore and New York are both loaded, in their own ways.

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The Yankees’ payroll topped $300 million with the addition of 25-year-old slugger Juan Soto – perhaps the ultimate go-for-broke Bronx maneuver with Soto able to shuffle into free agency at season’s end.

The Orioles’ payroll lingers right around $100 million, with their two emerging superstars, catcher Adley Rutschman ($760,300) and shortstop Gunnar Henderson ($756,200) briefly frozen in that organizational sweet spot of elite contributors at minimum salaries.

While it is tempting to consider this series – this season – a prelude of years to come, this show should be savored.

Soto could be gone next year, when Rutschman will start making bigger money through arbitration; Henderson will follow the year after, with new owner David Rubenstein tasked with retaining the abundant young talent general manager Mike Elias has meticulously amassed before words like “headed to a hearing” or “Scott Boras client” are thrown around with greater frequency.

This year, though, the Orioles and Yankees are already atop the AL East and equipped to stay there, even as it remains a five-deep snakepit.

The curtain is rising on what should be a compelling show.

“Some of the game’s best talent that’s been around, and some of the game’s best upcoming talent,” says Yankees closer Clay Holmes.

“If you’re a baseball fan, these are the games you’re watching.”

As the Orioles (19-10) took the first two of 13 matchups against the Yankees (19-12) this year, they made a case for their methodical nation-building.

‘It’s like college for us’

That the Yankees have steadfastly refused a “step back” or a “reload” or let alone a “rebuild” is something to be admired, collecting superstars like high-priced museum pieces.

When Giancarlo Stanton won the 2017 NL MVP for Miami, they allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to bring him in. When Aaron Judge won the 2022 AL MVP, the Yankees coughed up $360 million to retain him.

And when Soto became available, they shipped off five players and committed $31 million to pay him – and with eight homers and a 1.019 OPS already, Soto might be their next MVP.

Though they haven’t won a World Series since 2009, the mentality has yielded a 31-year streak of winning seasons, and playoff appearances in 24 of the last 29.

The Orioles lived an opposite reality, losing more than 100 games three times from 2018-2021, reaping the benefits from top draft picks, yet augmenting that by nailing their mid-round selections and assembling a flow of young talent that’s not abating.

Sure, the Yankees can slug you into oblivion. But the clubs’ respective makeups are evident when the ball is in play.

You can see it when Stanton, 34, gets thrown out to advance to second base on a line drive to right field, Henderson elasticizing to stretch for the putout. Or when first baseman Anthony Rizzo, 34, can’t reel in a bloop down the first base line and Soto is too late to help him.

Stanton occupies the DH spot that might be best suited for Soto, so when shallow fly balls parachuted in front of Soto in right, the Orioles snagged bases on excellent reads from Henderson, 22, and rookie left fielder Colton Cowser, 24.

While Rutschman and top prospect Jackson Holliday commanded the most attention as No. 1 overall picks, available only due to the Orioles’ futility, the fact remains that Henderson (42nd overall, 2019) and burgeoning star infielder Jordan Westburg (30th overall, 2020) could’ve been had by almost any team.

Now, they’re in Baltimore, and an aggressive and extremely athletic team is blossoming.

“We put a huge emphasis on playing the game right and we talk a lot about fundamentals – defensively and offensively,” says manager Brandon Hyde. “Baserunning is a huge part of our game. We’re still young. We’re still learning at the big league level.

“But our guys are very, very athletic. They do have instincts. We will make mistakes, but our guys will adapt and learn from them.”

There’s also a cohesion, perhaps owing to the fact many of the Orioles climbed the organizational ladder together, ultimately blending with a handful of holdovers from the pre-Elias era.

“This is almost like college for us,” says starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, a first-round pick in 2018. “You grow up a lot and mature in college so a lot of us feel like family. Pretty close in the clubhouse, same on the field. We know each other well.

“I think that kind of gives us an advantage other teams don’t have.”

Veteran reliever Dillon Tate – a former Yankees farmhand traded to Baltimore in 2018 – has tracked the evolution. He’s seen Ryan Mountcastle go from shortstop to third base to outfield to his current post, as a first baseman surprisingly deft with the glove.

And he’s awaited the arrivals of Rutschman and Henderson and Co., knowing their time was inevitable, but floored by what they’ve become.

“It’s really not a shocker they’re here,” says Tate of the young Orioles. “The shock is, the heights they end up taking their talents. That’s been the biggest surprise to me.

“You know the ceiling’s high, but you just don’t know how high they’re willing to take it. You see an All-Star nod for Adley and know it definitely won’t be his last one. That piece is just cool to see and cool to share the field with those guys.”

Henderson will probably join Rutschman at the All-Star Game in Texas. He’s already ripped 10 home runs – tied with the injured Mike Trout for the major league lead – with an accompanying .980 OPS. His defense at shortstop has been stellar and his 2.1 WAR leads the Orioles.

“He’s 22 years old,” says Hyde. “It’s pretty scary how good this guy’s going to be.

“How good he is already.”

Stocking the cupboard

Yankees manager Aaron Boone says the Orioles are “athletic, they hit for power, they’re versatile. They’re definitely formidable.”

That’s not to say the Yankees are ready for the old folks’ home. Sure, they’ve never had a Rutschman or Holliday available to them, what with picking at the back of the draft year-after-year, but the cupboard somehow stays stocked.

With Judge struggling at .207, their most integral piece after Soto this year is second-year shortstop Anthony Volpe. Picked 12 spots ahead of Henderson in 2019, Volpe has posted a .362 OBP and ranks second in Outs Above Average among shortstops.

They don’t get Soto without the four players originally signed or drafted by the Yankees.

“It’s not an easy thing to do – building a farm system without always getting the highest talent,” says Holmes, acquired from Pittsburgh in July 2021 for two prospects signed by the Yankees as international free agents. “You have to be really good at developing – and being here and seeing how they develop pitching and hitting is what makes them really good.

“They have to maximize what they do get. It’s definitely a key part of how you sustain things. The payroll is always up there, but trades are getting made and prospects keep coming, so it’s a testament to the development.”

Arms race

And still, so much comes down to chance.

The fate of both teams could be intertwined in the health of their starting pitchers in coming months. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole still has not thrown off a mound since spring training, and his Yankee debut likely won’t come before July.

The Orioles will welcome back starters John Means and Kyle Bradish from elbow injuries this week, but it’s still unknown what they might offer this season.

Baltimore made a rare go-for-it trade itself, using prospect capital to acquire former NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to front its rotation. He and closer Craig Kimbrel are rentals and right fielder Anthony Santander is the only pending free agent.

“They’re young,” says Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes, “so they’re going to be here for a long time.”

It’s already been a minute. Baltimore has not lost its last 16 series to AL East opponents, a streak it ensured by taking the first two games of this series, the latter played on an 86-degree evening.

“A little preview of summer,” says Boone, speaking of the unseasonable temperatures but also capturing the compelling chase ahead.

Another brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. is in trouble with the law.

Jevon Porter, 20, was arrested early Saturday morning in Missouri for suspicion of driving while intoxicated and speeding, ESPN reports, citing State Police Sgt. Kyle Green.

Porter, a 6-11 forward, recently transferred from Pepperdine to Loyola Marymount after averaging 16.2 points and 5.9 rebounds as a sophomore for the Waves last season. He was a member of the West Coast Conference’s All-Freshman team in 2022-23.

‘We are aware of recent reports in the media and are gathering information about the matter,’ a Loyola Marymount official said in a statement to ESPN.

Porter’s arrest comes two weeks after his older brother, Jontay Porter, was banned for life from the NBA for violating the league’s gambling rules.

In addition, another brother – Coban Porter, who played collegiately at Denver – was sentenced on April 19 to six years in prison for a fatal drunk-driving crash in Colorado last year. 

Caitlin Clark likes to think of it as 10 seconds that changed her life. 

Maybe that’s an exaggeration. Clark, who went No. 1 in the WNBA draft and will start her career with the Indiana Fever on Friday when she plays in her first preseason game, at Dallas, probably would have grown up to be a transcendent basketball star even if Maya Moore, the 2014 WNBA MVP, hadn’t hugged her 10 years ago after a Minnesota Lynx game. 

Clark probably would have still rewritten the record books, earned an eight-figure shoe deal and drawn millions of new fans to the women’s game. 

But that 10 seconds made an impression. 

Ten years ago, when Caitlin was 12, her dad Brent drove her from their home in Des Moines, Iowa, to Minneapolis for a Lynx game. That was back when Moore, the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft, ruled the WNBA, leading the Lynx to four titles in seven seasons, earning Finals MVP honors in 2013. After the game, as fans mingled on the court, Clark ran forward and hugged Moore, her favorite player. 

She didn’t have a camera handy, so she couldn’t request a photo. But Clark didn’t need proof that it happened. Ask her about it now, and she remembers it clearly. 

‘Ten seconds can go a long way in somebody’s life,’ Clark said, smiling at the memory. ‘That’s a good lesson whether you play sports or don’t play sports, how you treat somebody matters.’ 

A decade later, there’s still an obvious ripple effect from that interaction. 

‘I just try to take as much time as I can for those young girls because Maya was so nice to me when I ran up to her, and that’s something that’s stuck with me all the way until I’m 22 years old,’ said Clark, who’s hounded for autographs and photos everywhere she goes. She’s often happy to oblige, making sure the dozens who crowd around her − kids especially − feel seen. 

Maya Moore says Caitlin Clark is ‘more than stats’

As she prepares to lead the Americans to their eighth consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball this summer at the 2024 Paris Games, Olympic coach Cheryl Reeve − who coached Moore in Minnesota − is watching the women’s game explode in popularity. She’s reveling in it. Part of the exponential growth, she says, is due to the WNBA being around long enough for young players to have spent their lives looking up to women who helped build the league. That’s remarkably different than original WNBA stars like 53-year-old Sheryl Swoopes, whose exposure to pro players was limited to the NBA. 

“We call it a movement because we’ve already had moments,’ Reeve said. ‘Now we’re in a movement, and I think it’s a direct correlation to the WNBA being in existence for 28 years. What you have is young, aspiring players − women, girls − that are playing at a much younger age, honing their skills at a much younger age. They’re in their backyard, they’re saying, ‘I wanna play like Breanna Stewart’ or Caitlin Clark wants to play like Maya Moore. Maya Moore wanted to play like Cynthia Cooper.’ 

Lots of WNBA dignitaries like to talk about how Clark will change the 28-year-old league, with her logo 3s and the unprecedented demand for tickets to watch her play. But Moore sees something bigger on the horizon. 

‘How can she change the WNBA? There are so many ways to answer that question,’ Moore told USA TODAY Sports. ‘She is someone, I think, who’s a lot more than stats. She tries to bring that passion and joy to her community. I look forward to seeing how she uses her influence, how she’ll make her community better, her teammates better.’ 

During Clark’s incredible run with the Hawkeyes − Iowa went 65-12 her last two years, playing in back-to-back national championship games − coach Lisa Bluder liked to talk about the joy her team brought to viewers, whether they were watching from the arena or on TV. 

It’s a common theme among those who know Clark best and have been with her on the journey from basketball tyke to sports megastar.

For all his daughter’s accomplishments, Brent Clark told USA TODAY Sports that nothing makes him prouder, or more emotional, than hearing how Caitlin’s game gives others a break from an otherwise hard day. 

‘The stories I hear from people, the stuff you don’t even think about, where maybe someone has a parent in hospice, maybe their memory is fading, but when Caitlin’s on, it’s must-see TV, even if neither of these people have ever watched basketball before, where it gives a person two hours to enjoy with their parents or loved one, that’s the most special element of everything she does,’ Brent told USA TODAY Sports, his voice catching. ‘She gives people hope, she brings them joy − just by being who she is.’ 

It’s a full-circle moment, Brent said. Because that’s who Moore was to Caitlin. 

Caitlin Clark credits Maya Moore for ‘the platform I can be on now’

Now, Caitlin will have the opportunity to be that for hundreds − thousands? millions? − of other kids. And it’s fitting that in retirement, Moore will be able to watch, and cheer, from the sidelines as Clark does exactly that. 

‘It’s super sweet to know that the time you take with the people who love watching you play matters and means something,’ Moore told USA TODAY Sports. ‘It’s not necessarily about performing a certain way but being as genuine as I can, because that’s what people need … it’s humbling and encouraging to know I had a part in helping Caitlin continue that spirit of being good to people. It’s another reminder that we all have a role to play, and all have the ability to influence someone.’ 

Clark and Moore got to meet for the first time in March, when Moore surprised Clark before Iowa’s senior game against Ohio State. ESPN’s College GameDay set up the intro, with an assist from State Farm, and when Moore walked into the hall outside Iowa’s locker room to greet Clark, the two-time national player of the year let out a squeal of delight. Her glee at meeting Moore was obvious, as she stared at her hero in awe. She giggled that she felt like she was ‘fangirling so hard’ and hugged Moore numerous times before she left to get ready. 

Clark said after that game − the one where she became the all-time Division I scoring leader, men’s or women’s − that the hugs now and then each had ‘magnitude’ to them. Her love affair with women’s basketball ‘was because of her (Moore) and how good the Lynx were,’ Clark said. ‘I wanted to be just like her.’ 

Clark is effusive in her praise for Moore and others who helped build “the platform I can be on now,” the players who broke down barriers to help elevate the game to its current status. She’s thoughtful about how the game got to this place, full of perspective that eclipses her 22 years. 

But first and foremost, she’s a fan. And the little girl in her still gets starstruck thinking about Moore. 

If she’d had a sharpie handy when she ran on the floor to meet her hero, Clark said, she absolutely would have asked Moore to sign her arm. And even now, 10 years later, ‘I’d still take her autograph.’ 

Luka Doncic scored 35 points and handed out 10 assists as the visiting Dallas Mavericks moved one win away from a spot in the Western Conference semifinals with a 123-93 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

It’s the largest postseason loss in Clippers history, per ESPN.

Maxi Kleber contributed 15 points as the Mavericks took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is set for Friday in Dallas.

Jaden Hardy and Kyrie Irving scored 14 points apiece for the Mavericks. Dereck Lively II and Derrick Jones Jr. each had 12.

Paul George finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Ivica Zubac also had 15 points for the Clippers, who played for the third time in the series without Kawhi Leonard (right knee inflammation). It was the first time Los Angeles dropped a game without the star.

Norman Powell put up 14 points while Terance Mann and Bones Hyland each had 11 for Los Angeles, but James Harden was held to seven points and seven assists. Harden shot 2-for-12 (16.7%) from the floor and 1-for-7 from 3-point range after he and George each scored 33 points in a Game 4 win.

The Mavericks took control with a 14-0 run in the third quarter, establishing a 73-50 lead. Doncic scored nine points in the surge, while the Dallas defense took charge to hold Los Angeles to 33.3% shooting in the third quarter. Dallas shot 63.2% in the period.

Doncic effectively put the game away on a 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining for a 97-72 lead. He watched the final 5:39 from the bench after hitting 14 of 26 (53.8%) from the floor and 2 of 8 from long distance.

After a tight first quarter, the Mavericks gained some separation by taking a 12-point lead in the second quarter and going into halftime with a 56-46 advantage. Doncic had 15 points in the half and Kleber added 12.

George had just seven points before the break for the Clippers while Harden was held to five as the Los Angeles stars combined to shoot 4 of 15 (26.7%).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On three remarkable, memorable and eternally celebrated occasions in the 150-year history of the Kentucky Derby, America’s most famous horse race produced America’s Sweetheart.  

Regret in 1915.

Genuine Risk in 1980.

Winning Colors in 1988.

They are names that will live forever in Derby lore, a trio of fillies who conquered what is arguably the most demanding task in the sport: Beating the boys on the first Saturday in May. 

Sadly, they may be the last of their kind. 

“I think it’s a shame,” said veteran trainer Kenny McPeek. “What did Bonnie Raitt say? Let’s give them something to talk about, right?”

At a time when more people than ever are paying attention to women in sports, Thoroughbred racing – in an equine sense, at least – has been way ahead of the pack.

The question of whether a top filly can compete against colts has been part of the sport’s mystique as long as horse racing has been around. Plenty of owners and trainers throughout history have been bold enough to try, with fillies like Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra and Beholder elevating their status as all-time greats with memorable performances against male horses. 

But the Kentucky Derby has always been the rarest of rare challenges for fillies. Some of that is owed to relatable human factors like size and physiological differences that would suggest fillies might be more competitive in their own company. Some of it, historically, has been fear of a filly not being able to withstand the 1 1/4-mile distance so early in their 3-year-old season (this is also a question about most colts, to be fair). And for the owner or trainer of an elite filly, there’s a simple financial calculation about whether it would be better to try for the Derby or run in an “easier” race like the Kentucky Oaks the day before that offers a healthy $1.5 million purse.

“We ran a couple (fillies in the Derby) that we should have run in the Oaks,” said legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas. “We won the Oaks five times and we’d probably have won it seven or eight times.” 

Nobody has tried more fillies in the Derby than Lukas: Four altogether, including Winning Colors, who delivered Lukas his first victory in 1988. But now, even Lukas would have a tough time repeating that feat simply because of what it takes to get a filly to the starting gate. 

How Derby points system affects fillies

Prior to 2012, the qualification formula to enter the Kentucky Derby was based on graded-stakes earnings in all races regardless of what kind of races they were. Since then, Churchill Downs has installed a points system based on a series of designated Derby prep races, all of which are geared toward the colts. 

In general, this development has been a net positive for the race, eliminating sprinters or horses who might have won a big 2-year-old race but didn’t develop further at age 3. The downside, though, is that any owner or trainer who might want to put a filly in the mix has to make that decision relatively early and start to earn enough points in those specific prep races for colts to get in the top 20 of the standings. 

The net effect is undeniable: Nobody has entered a filly in the Derby since 2010, and it’s unclear when – or if – that might change. 

“The points system makes it a little tough,” said Brad Cox, who has had one of the nation’s strongest contingent of fillies in his barn over the last handful of years. “There is opportunity if you want to run against the boys prior to the Derby, but often we just find ourselves taking the path of trying to win the Oaks. Honestly, I haven’t had a filly to date that I felt like I wanted to try against the boys to accumulate points toward the Derby.”

Most Thoroughbred trainers are, like Cox, relatively conservative when it comes to handling their top-end fillies. But it’s not sexism, it’s economics: Just like for colts, the big money isn’t only on the racetrack but in the breeding shed. When the top fillies are either eventually sold as broodmares or have foals who go to auction, there aren’t any bonus points for winning the Derby or even beating colts.

Neither Genuine Risk nor Winning Colors passed on their talent to the next generation. Zenyatta, who became the only filly or mare to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2009, was bred to some of America’s leading stallions but produced nothing that made an impact on the racetrack. Breeding champions is part art, part science and a whole lot of mystery. 

So the primary factor for running a filly in the Derby would be the pure sporting challenge of such a feat, and some are more up for it than others. 

‘Throw gender aside’

In 1980, trainer LeRoy Jolley had famously taken a stand against running Genuine Risk in the Derby after a third-place finish against colts in the Wood Memorial. Keep in mind, this was only five years after the brilliant filly Ruffian tragically broke down in a match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure and had to be euthanized. At that time in American racing, there was still perhaps some psychological trauma about running fillies against colts. 

But Genuine Risk’s owners, Bert and Diana Firestone, wanted the opportunity for their filly. They entered her in the Derby and accomplished something nobody had seen in more than six decades. 

Four years later, Lukas showed up at Churchill with both Life’s Magic, the champion 2-year-old filly, and Althea, who had registered a stunning win in the Arkansas Derby. They finished eighth and 19th, respectively. 

But Lukas wasn’t deterred. In the spring of 1988, he felt Winning Colors was the fastest 3-year-old in America – filly or colt – and entered her in the Santa Anita Derby. She dominated the race by seven lengths and went wire-to-wire at Churchill a few weeks later, holding off Forty Niner by a neck for the first of Lukas’ four Derby wins.

“You have to just throw gender aside,” Lukas said. “Is she equal to the colts? Does she have that kind of ability that she can compete with the colts? And you need to test the water I think a little bit. I don’t think many of the younger trainers are willing to go out that far on the limb and take a chance.” 

Since Winning Colors, two fillies have won the Preakness and one captured the Belmont, so it stands to reason one could win the Derby again if given the opportunity. McPeek trained one of those fillies when Swiss Skydiver beat Derby winner Authentic in the 2020 Preakness that was moved to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said if his filly Thorpedo Anna wins the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, the Preakness would be an option for her next race. 

He’d like to see the points system adjusted so that there could be some potential crossover between Derby and Oaks qualification, giving owners and trainers of top fillies an option to at least consider running against the boys. He thinks it would create conversation and intrigue and, ultimately, be good for the sport. 

“There aren’t many that will be brave enough to do it,” McPeek said. ‘But you’ll never have another Genuine Risk or Winning Colors if you don’t.” 

LAS VEGAS — Oscar De La Hoya provoked Canelo Alvarez into a heated, profanity-laced exchange Wednesday during the final press conference before Alvarez fights Jaime Munguia Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

De La Hoya, who once served as Alvarez’s promoter and now represents Munguia, profanely called on Alvarez to show him ‘respect.” He also mentioned that Alvarez failed two drug tests in 2018.

Soon after, Alvarez stood up on the stage and the two men stood less than 10 feet apart as Alvarez angrily fired back in Spanish.

“Hey, it’s fight week,’’ De La Hoya, a Hall of Fame fighter, said afterward. “It’s game on. (Expletive), we’re not at church. This is a fight. Let’s go.’’

Later during Wednesday’s press conference, interrupting a translator, Alvarez said De La Hoya, “tried to steal money. … He steals from fighters.’’ The comments also were spiced with profanity.

After the press conference, De La Hoya said he thinks the tense exchange between the men could impact the outcome of the fight, which will see Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) defending his unified super middleweight championship against Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs).

“Oh, yeah, when you’re distracted in your head and you’re thinking about me, it can be detrimental to his concentration, to his game plan,’’ De La Hoya said. ‘So hopefully it worked.’’

Alvarez, who left Golden Boy Promotions in 2020, smiled as he dismissed the idea that what happened at the press conference will distract him.

“He just want attention no matter what,’’ Alvarez said. “… He’s mad because I leave Golden Boy.’’

Alvarez also said he has proof that De La Hoya tried to steal money from him and Gennadiy Golovkin after their first fight in 2017 or their second fight in 2018.

The tension Wednesday surfaced after De La Hoya stepped to the microphone for traditional prefight comments.

“I have nothing but respect for Canelo Alvarez as a fighter,’’ said De La Hoya. “His record and ability speak for themselves. But he has spent much of the last two months insulting me rather than promoting this fight.

‘So I’ll make it a little bit easier for him. Yes, I have faced a lot of challenges in life. Yes, I’ve been to rehab several times. Yes, there were some really low times in my life and yes there were times my work was not my priority based on my mental health, which I had neglected for so long.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that Golden Boy built Canelo Alvarez, period. The company … for decades has always had one name, and it’s mine. So put some (expletive) respect on it.”

The two failed drug tests De La Hoya brought up were in reference to what earned Alvarez a suspension before his second fight with Golovkin. Munguia, then 21, volunteered to fight Golovkin to preserve the fight card. But the Nevada state commission rejected the option because it considered Munguia too young and inexperienced at the time to face Golovkin.