Boxing: Floyd Mayweather Junior apologises for distasteful picture that appeared on his Instagram account mocking former boxer Oscar De La Hoya

The picture was uploaded without Mayweather's consent and the pound-for-pound king of boxing has issued an apology for the incident

Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather after the latters victory over Ricky Hatton (GETTY IMAGES)

Floyd Mayweather Junior has issued an apology for a picture that appeared on his Instagram account without his consent in the wake of his split-decision point’s victory over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A picture appeared of Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya red-eyed and with the caption “Meanwhile in rehab…OSCAR: “I gave Canelo the wrong blueprint I was high”.

The distasteful mocking of De La Hoya comes after he had relapsed in his fight against an alcohol addiction, with the former world champion across six different weight classes entering rehab try and recover.

De La Hoya missed the fight on the weekend, in which Mayweather once again demonstrated why he is the pound-for-pound king of the squared circle, dispatching Alvarez with a dominant and assured display.

But Mayweather has now issued an official apology, claiming that he knew nothing of the picture which was uploaded against his knowledge, and he remains in full support of De La Hoya, who he famously beat back in 2007.

The statement read: “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.

“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.”

Mayweather was very vocal in his support for 40-year-old before the fight with Alvarez, and he has also made clear in the past that he doesn’t personally post pictures or comments on his accounts, with one of his “Money Team” entourage controlling the account.

In future, the WBA (Super) Light Middleweight, WBC & The Ring Light Middleweight champion may wish to keep a closer eye on who’s uploading posts to accounts under his name.

The photoshopped picture of De La Hoya appeared of Mayweather's official Instagram account, but was quickly deleted (Twitter/@BOXING_MEMES)