Oscar De La Hoya believes one of his former rivals would have been capable of knocking out pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford.
‘Bud’ Crawford has had an exceptional professional career to date, winning world titles across five weight divisions since he made his debut back in 2008.
The 38-year-old from Nebraska extended his unbeaten record to 42-0 in September when he defeated Canelo Alvarez to capture the undisputed super-middleweight in their historic clash at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Crawford became the first male fighter in boxing history to win an undisputed championship in three separate divisions, having already accomplished this feat at super-lightweight and welterweight respectively.
Whilst ‘Bud’ has proven himself to be arguably the best fighter of his entire generation, De La Hoya believes one man in particular would have knocked out the unbeaten Omaha-native.
In a recent feature with The Daily Mail, ‘The Golden Boy’ was asked to predict the outcome of a fantasy clash between Crawford and Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, who he says would have ‘knocked out’ the five-weight world champion.
“Oh at their prime? Yeah Pacquiao. Knockout.”
Pacquiao has had considerable success throughout the course of his professional career, winning world titles in no less than eight weight classes since entering the paid ranks 30 years ago.
The Filipino icon has shared the ring with an abundance of generational greats along the way, defeating the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and De La Hoya himself back in 2008.
The 46-year-old made a shock comeback to the sport back in July when he fought to a majority draw against reigning WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, although it has been argued that ‘PacMan’ had done enough to be declared the winner.
