Promoter Oscar De La Hoya says Terence Crawford’s efficiency final Saturday in opposition to Ismail Madrimov has made him change his thoughts about whether or not he may beat unified tremendous middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
(Credit score: Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Crawford’s Struggles In opposition to Madrimov
De La Hoya states that going into the Crawford-Madrimov battle, he thought Crawford can be too expert for Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs), even at 168. Nonetheless, after watching him battle in opposition to WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov on the BMO Area in Los Angeles, he now believes Alvarez would beat him on measurement and expertise.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) had so much going in opposition to him in that battle, coming off a yr layoff, transferring up in weight and age, and by no means having fought many, if any, high-level fighters throughout his profession. It was smoke and mirrors with Crawford and Madrimov uncovered that.
De La Hoya didn’t say whether or not he would nonetheless prefer to see Crawford transfer as much as 168 for the Canelo battle or if he would like he battle guys nearer to his personal weight class at 154 and 147.
“I really thought Crawford would beat Canelo earlier than I noticed him battle Saturday [against Israil Madrimov],” mentioned Oscar De La Hoya to the Sean Zittel YouTube web site about his perception that Canelo Alvarez would beat Terence Crawford after watching Crawford’s battle final Saturday night time in opposition to WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.
“It modified my thoughts. I feel the larger, higher man within the historical past of the game will all the time beat small fighter. It’s written within the historical past of boxing. It didn’t assist with me and Pacquiao as a result of I used to be over the hill. I used to be older, I used to be shot, however within the historical past of the game, it all the time occurs.”
Crawford turns 37 in September, and he’d been piling up wins over quite a lot of older, lesser fighters for a few years. We’d by no means seen him in with anybody actually good for no less than a decade, and it was apparent that he was not so good as we’d thought.
Crawford’s Previous Opponents
Crawford had been padding his resume being these fighters for the final six years:
– Errol Spence: *Submit automobile crash
– Shawn Porter: Washed up at 34
– David Avanesyan: Fringe contender
– Jeff Horn: Paper champion
– Kell Brook: Submit Golovkin knockout = washed
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas: WIFI password = Fringe contender
– Amir Khan: Washed
– Jose Benavidez Jr: Gunshot sufferer
“The larger, higher man will all the time beat the great smaller man,” mentioned De La Hoya about his perception that Canelo can be too massive and too good for the smaller Crawford.
Canelo-Crawford Struggle Nonetheless Potential, However Unlikely
The Canelo-Crawford battle can nonetheless occur, however it is going to require that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh provide you with the $150 million purse request that Canelo has requested for, and he doesn’t seem prepared to do this.
“When a person involves America and desires to ship to us the most effective and the largest fights how can one argue? It’s unattainable,” mentioned De La Hoya about His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. “Sure, deliver us extra. We love boxing, we love the battle recreation, and we like to see combating the most effective. Turki is making that occur.
“Let’s thank him. When he talks about Canelo not eager to battle Benavidez and outpricing himself. Even Turki is aware of that,” mentioned De La Hoya.
