Legendary fighter and promoter Oscar De La Hoya has made a U-turn on his initial prediction for the upcoming mega-fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
The pound-for-pound stars are pencilled in to face each other in September, with ‘Bud’ Crawford stepping up to super middleweight to challenge the Mexican icon for his unified WBC, WBA and WBO titles.
Speaking to FightHub TV in August 2023 before Crawford made his super-welterweight debut, ‘The Golden Boy’ was asked to predict who he believes would come out on top, giving his backing to the 37-year-old American.
“Terence Crawford will beat Canelo anytime. I said before the big talented man will always beat the small talented fighter, but Terence Crawford is not small, Terence Crawford is a big guy, he could walk around at 168 if he wants to. If this fight is made at 164, Terence Crawford [wins] all day.
However, in a surprising turn of events, De La Hoya appears to have changed his mind on his initial prediction, as he now believes the 34-year-old Mexican star will walk away victorious.
“At 154, he didn’t really look too dangerous up in the ring, but against a beast. So imagine Canelo being the bigger guy, being a beast up in the ring, it’s almost like a no contest. When has a smaller good guy ever beaten a good bigger guy, it’s never happened in the history of the sport.”
It was revealed earlier this week that an ‘agreement’ is now in place for the mega-fight to take place in Las Vegas this September, although an official announcement is yet to be made.
It will undoubtedly be the biggest test of ‘Bud’ Crawford’s career, who is bidding to become a five-weight world champion against a man who has dominated the super middleweight division for five years.
