While Oscar De La Hoya has no love for one-time protege Canelo Alvarez, even he doesn’t like Terence Crawford’s chances in September.
Alvarez and his former promoter De La Hoya had a nasty breakup in 2020 that included a lawsuit over breach of contract. In the years since, the boxing legend has never had a good word to say about the pound-for-pound star. He has even tossed steroid allegations at the Mexican superstar.
One would expect De La Hoya to talk himself into believing Crawford — arguably the No. 1 fighter in the world — has a real chance to beat Alvarez despite a huge weight disadvantage. However, even De La Hoya thinks Alvarez likely will be just too much for “Bud.”
“I love boxing, studying it, I know it inside out. When I watch Terence Crawford get rattled and rocked by Yuriorkis Gamboa [in 2014], who’s a natural 130-pounder, that to me is gonna be a huge problem when he gets hit by Canelo,” De La Hoya said on the Ring Champs podcast. Who is a natural super middleweight, maybe?
“He fought at 175, Canelo. So, he fights at 175; he fights these big monsters. He’s not getting rattled at all. [Former opponent] Edgar Berlanga is a big kid. It makes me wonder, how is Crawford going to keep him away for 12 rounds? Canelo’s going to come at him hard.”
Oscar De La Hoya gives hope for a Terence Crawford upset over Canelo Alvarez
Although De La Hoya believes the 37-year-old may have an insurmountable challenge in front of him on Sept. 13, the Hall of Famer did make a case for why Crawford offers some notable problems of his own for the Mexican superstar.
“But then again. I think about Crawford’s abilities and his IQ, and his footwork. Which Canelo cannot handle. And we know that for a fact,” he said. “It happened with Dmitrii Bivol, it happened with Floyd Mayweather. Who schooled him left and right with no problem. And Canelo was way stronger than Mayweather.”
Crawford vs. Alvarez will go down inside the home of the Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV, on Sept. 13.
