Oscar De La Hoya has offered Jermell Charlo words of advice and opinion on how he should defeat Canelo Alvarez when the pair head to head on September 30th in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena.
Despite De La Hoya ultimately backing Canelo [59-2-2 39KO] to defeat Charlo [35-1-1 19KO] predominantly due to the current undisputed super-welterweight champion having to move up two weight classes, he did point Charlo in the direction of Dmitry Bivol and how he proceeded to defeat Canelo in May of 2022.
Bivol would ultimately upset the bookmakers by claiming a narrow but unanimous points win over Canelo, who was challenging Bivol for the Russian’s WBA light-heavyweight world title. An accomplished performance from Bivol handed Canelo his second career defeat to date, some nine years after succumbing to defeat against Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
Bivol demonstrated fast reactions, impeccable footwork, patience and combination punching against Canelo, ultimately frustrating the Mexican vividly in points during the contest.
Speaking to FightHub TV, De La Hoya stated that Charlo will have to follow the blueprint which Bivol demonstrated last as the best route of attack for the current super-welterweight undisputed champion to defeat the current undisputed super-middleweight champion.
“Any style that you give Canelo that is similar to a Bivol, he’s gonna have trouble with,” De La Hoya told FightHubTV. “Anyone that stays on their toes, anyone that flicks a jab in front of his face, anyone that knows how to keep the distance, like Bivol did, Canelo will have trouble.
“That’s the bottom line. Again, he walks on quicksand. That’s what his style is. It worked for him all these years. He has become accustomed to knocking his opponents out, walking them down, with a lot of power. Anyone that tries to box him, and have that same, similar style as Bivol, he’s gonna have trouble with.”
“He can take advantage of it (Alvarez), Charlo, if he knows how to use his distance,” De La Hoya continued. “The distance you get with his feet, the distance you obviously use with your jab, you keep your distance. But if you know how to combine the footwork with your jab or your right hand or your combinations then it’s a perfect combination to win the fight against Canelo.”
