Oscar De La Hoya has come out in support of Terence Crawford if a hypothetical match-up can be made between the current undisputed welterweight champion and De La Hoya’s former promoted fighter, Canelo Alvarez.
In recent weeks following his win over Errol Spence Jr, Crawford has been vocal about facing the current undisputed super-middleweight champion, Alvarez. However, Canelo will defend his undisputed status (and four championship belts) against Jermell Charlo on September 30 in a battle of the ‘undisputed vs. undisputed’ in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jermell will enter the ring against Canelo as undisputed super-welterweight champion till the opening bell, when the WBO will formally strip him of their world title and elevate Tim Tszyu to full champion status.
Crawford himself will be rematching Errol Spence Jr following their July 29th encounter at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. Crawford would dominate the welterweight encounter and halt Spence Jr in nine rounds. No date has been set for the rematch at the time of publication, alongside which weight division the encounter will occur. Spence Jr, post-fight on July 29, suggested he would like to take the rematch super-welterweight (154lbs).
Canelo, in recent weeks, has also expressed an interest in facing Crawford but does not feel that if he were to win, he would not get the credit he feels he is due because of Crawford being the smaller man and would be jumping up three weight classes to make the fight possible.
Speaking to FightHub TV, De La Hoya believes that Crawford would dominate Alvarez. De La Hoya has been critical of Alvarez following Canelo’s parting from De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions.
De La Hoya believes that Crawford’s naturally smaller size compared to Canelo will not play any factor at all and that Crawford’s more natural talent will be the deciding factor.
Terence Crawford will beat Canelo anytime,” De La Hoya told FightHubTV. “Anytime. Because, and this is, look, I said before, the big talented man will beat the small talented fighter but Terence Crawford is not small. Terence Crawford is a big guy. He can walk around at 168 if he wants to. if this fight is made at 164, Terence Crawford all day. But with just the skillset alone, Terence Crawford is a master.
“He will make Canelo look like a child. He will make him look like a child. And that’s just my boxing experience. Do I want Canelo to win? Yes. You know, I promoted Canelo and I want the best for him. I want the best for any fighter. But from a promoter’s view, from an expert’s view, from a fighter’s view, and don’t forget it, it’s 10 world titles in six divisions, from that perspective, Crawford will beat him in a master performance in a masterclass, any given day.”
“Talent, it’s just talent alone,” De La Hoya added. “But Crawford is a big guy. Crawford is taller than Canelo. Crawford can bulk up to Canelo’s size. But the difference is going to be the talent, the feet, look at Canelo’s footwork. He’s walking on cement. Look at Crawford’s footwork. He coordinates it with his upper body. His footwork is just incredible. He knows how to keep the distance. It’ll be a no-brainer.”
