Oscar De La Hoya believes there is just one active fighter that would have knocked out Terence Crawford during their prime years.
‘Bud’ Crawford etched his name into boxing’s history books earlier this month when he defeated Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez to capture the undisputed super-middleweight world championship in arguably the best performance of his professional career.
The 37-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska has previously achieved undisputed status at super-lightweight and welterweight respectively, racking up victories over the likes of Errol Spence Jr, Israil Madrimov and Shawn Porter in recent years.
His monumental victory over Canelo has secured Crawford’s status as the pound-for-pound number one in many people’s eyes, effectively cementing himself as the greatest fighter of his entire generation in the process.
Despite this however, legendary fighter-turned-promoter De La Hoya believes there is one fighter that would have defeated the Omaha-native via knockout in a clash during their peak years.
In a feature with The Daily Mail, ‘The Golden Boy’ didn’t hesitate to back Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao to beat ‘Bud’ Crawford via stoppage.
“Oh at their prime? Yeah [Manny] Pacquiao, knockout.”
During the peak of his storied professional boxing career, Pacquiao was considered to be the best fighter on the planet for a number of years, backing this up with an outstanding set of achievements.
The Filipino icon captured world titles in no less than eight weight classes along the way, sharing the ring with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez, Tim Bradley and Miguel Cotto to name just a few.
The 46-year-old did make a sensational return to the sport back in July when he fought to a majority decision draw against reigning WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on July 19.
While he may have been unable to get the victory on that occasion, Pacquiao is expected to compete yet again, with December earmarked as the potential date.
