Oscar De La Hoya has shared his verdict for how a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford in their prime would have gone.
Pacquiao is boxing’s only eight-division world champion, having campaigned from flyweight all the way up to super-welterweight, defeating a number of fellow greats along the way, including Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley, and De La Hoya himself.
He was also involved in the sport’s highest grossing ever fight when he met Floyd Mayweather in May 2015, and after four years out he is set to make a remarkable return at the age of 46 this weekend when he challenges Mario Barrios for his WBC welterweight title.
Crawford’s accolades are also just as impressive, becoming a four-weight world champion from lightweight to super-welterweight, along with claiming undisputed status at both 140lbs and 147lbs after beating fighters such as Errol Spence.
Last time out, he defeated Israil Madrimov to win the WBA super-welterweight title, and will now make an ambitious jump up two divisions to take on fellow pound-for-pound star and undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in September.
Having shared the ring with Pacquiao and studied Crawford’s career for many years, there aren’t many with more of an expert opinion than De La Hoya on how a fight between the two men would have gone in their prime, and he gave a confident answer to Mail Sport.
“At their prime, Pacquiao knockout.”
Pacquiao will be hoping to roll back the years when he takes on Barrios this weekend, and De La Hoya has shared his verdict for how that bout will go.
