Oscar De La Hoya gave his prediction for the upcoming welterweight title fight between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
After years of waiting, boxing fans will finally get to see the two best welterweights collide in a title unification clash July 29 in Las Vegas.
While most observers would have liked to have seen the fight sooner, De La Hoya actually believes the timing is perfect.
“I love the fight,” he told Fight Hype (via Boxing-Social). “Look, people will say it’s four years too late – no, it’s perfect timing. Both guys are undefeated, both guys seem like they’re on top of their game.
“… Finally the best is fighting the best at welterweight which makes me happy.”
As for the fight itself, the Golden Boy promoter is picking Crawford as he feels the WBO welterweight champion has more in his locker than Spence.
“I do favor Crawford, that’s my personal opinion,” he added. “Just by styles. Errol Spence was under Golden Boy for many years and we promoted most of his early fights. His one-dimensional style obviously has been working for him till this day, but I think that Crawford can maybe dissect him, slowly but surely.
“Crawford’s arsenal is much more extensive. More versatile. He’s got great footwork. he’s got the punches in bunches. He throws combinations. I might be wrong, but that might be a little too much for Spence.”
De La Hoya also believes ring rust will play a role with Spence's last fight coming in April 2022 against Yordenis Ugas — his only fight since the start of 2021. Terence Crawford, in contrast, last competed in December.
“From my experience, having long layoffs is not good for a fighter,” he explained. “Look at what happened with Ryan [Garcia] – he didn’t take the tune up.
“Whenever I would fight somebody who didn’t have a tune up before hand, I would beat easy and knock them out cause your reflexes are not the same.”
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