De La Hoya: Canelo Beats Crawford – ‘The Power Will Be Too Much’
Oscar De La Hoya can only see Canelo Alvarez defeating Terence Crawford in their September clash.
The fight is expected to take place on Mexican Independence Weekend as Crawford attempts the unthinkable. Bud will move up two weight divisions from 154 pounds in an attempt to secure the biggest win of his career. The fight is likely to be for undisputed if Canelo can defeat William Scull in May. Crawford’s highest weight class is 154 pounds, as show in his last fight. He secured a victory against Israil Madrimov to become the WBA Junior Middleweight Champion. However, the performance received a mixed response after Crawford was hit more than usual. There is a perception that if Canelo were to land similar shots on Crawford, he could end up stopping him.
Worries For Crawford
“I do think the weight will be too much for Terence. Physically, at 154 he is not a big 154. He’s definitely not a big 160. He is definitely not a small 168. So does Canelo [have a strong boxing IQ], so I do give him the edge in that fight,” Eddie Hearn said
Before the fight against Madrimov, Crawford had knocked out all of his opponents at 147 pounds. But Crawford is no pushover. He has become undisputed at 140 and 147 pounds, as he is currently undefeated. That has made him one of the best P4P fighters in the world. But Canelo poses a different task. Alvarez is a four-weight world champion, having also boxed at 175 pounds. He has a title at 175 pounds, having secured a win against Sergey Kovalev to get the WBO belt.
Canelo also managed to last the distance with Dmitry Bivol, even if he came out second best. Alvarez has never been stopped in his career, whilst he only has two losses on his record against two of the best fighters in Floyd Mayweather and Bivol. Although De La Hoya is not on the best of terms with Canelo, he felt that the size difference was simply too much.
De La Hoya Reacts
Jermell Charlo had attempted to defeat Canelo when he moved up two weight classes from 154 pounds. Charlo was also the former Undisputed Junior Middleweight Champion. But Charlo did not pose a threat, as he lost a one-sided unanimous decision. And De La Hoya felt that Canelo would come out on top, as weight classes do exist for a reason.
“Look, fighter versus fight and talent, obviously Crawford is the craftier boxer, but Canelo has the size, he has the power, and it’s like [Bob] Arum said: he’ll run right through him. It’ll be a tough fight, but stylistically, I mean, yeah, It’ll be a one-sided fight for maybe, let’s say, seven rounds, and then Canelo starts attacking, he starts to take it to deep waters, and the power will eventually be too much. Will it be a great fight? Will it be a huge event? Absolutely,” De La Hoya said
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