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Oscar De La Hoya believes Terence Crawford is more than capable of defeating Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds.
Although he was initially proposing a catchweight fight, undisputed welterweight champion Crawford revealed he would be open to fighting Alvarez at super middleweight.
@Canelo vs Crawford is definitely by far the biggest fight in boxing.
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) August 29, 2023
To make matters even more interesting, Alvarez — who was against a catchweight — recently claimed he'd be open to the matchup at 168 pounds.
Given that Crawford would be moving up three weight classes to potentially fight Alvarez, it would come as no surprise that many are picking the Mexican superstar to emerge victorious in what should be a straight forward matter.
De La Hoya, however, believes Crawford has the boxing IQ to come out on top against Alvarez.
“Look, and you know this, you know boxing, right? … At 168, people might think, ‘How can Crawford beat Canelo, that’s not possible?’” De La Hoya told ESNews (via Boxing Scene). “But in boxing a big talented fighter will beat the small talented fighter, right? That’s a given. But then people might say, you’re contradicting yourself, [Manny] Pacquiao beat you. Well, I was a dead man walking already even before I got into the ring.
“In Crawford’s case, he’s a big guy but Crawford doesn’t rely on his power. He relies on his IQ. Crawford, what he did to Spence was magic. It was incredible. It was amazing. One thing about Canelo is that we all know he walks into the ring as if there’s wet cement [on his feet]. His footwork is a little too heavy. Crawford is such a smart fighter where he can just—he’s like Bruce Lee, literally. And he’s at his peak, he’s in his prime. So, I think if that fight ever happens, which I don’t think it will, if that fight ever happens, I have to go with Crawford.”
Of course, it should be noted that while De La Hoya was Alvarez's promoter in the past, they don't see eye-to-eye anymore. Basically, that means De La Hoya is possibly speaking with plenty of bias against Alvarez.
That said, he certainly isn't wrong about Terence Crawford's IQ and it's certainly fair to say the American is in his prime more so than Alvarez who many, including De La Hoya, believe is gradually on the decline after his last few performances.
But before any potential fight can happen, Alvarez has to get past Jermell Charlo who he faces on Sept. 30. in Las Vegas.
