Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya believes Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez needs a knockout to defeat Terence Crawford when they meet at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday.
In his second reign as the 168-pound undisputed champion, Álvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will make his first defense of the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and IBF titles against Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs). The smaller Crawford moved up two weight classes for the challenge. After he defeated Israil Madrimov for the WBA and vacant WBO interim junior middleweight titles by unanimous decision in August 2024.
Due to the weight advantage and a one-year layoff since Crawford's last fight, "The Golden Boy" thinks Álvarez may have a "huge advantage" in the later rounds. If the fight goes to the judges' scorecards. However, De La Hoya argued that it could still be a long night for the defending undisputed super middleweight champion.
"If Canelo forces his will on him, he'll probably be 190 pounds inside the ring on fight night," said De La Hoya, on social media . "I give him a great shot in the seventh, eighth, ninth, or 10th round to knock out Crawford. If he doesn't do that, then Crawford is going to box his ears off."
Credit: Ed Mulholland/TKO Worldwide LLC
The 2014 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee credited Crawford's sound craft in the ring, which "needs to be perfect." Including his speed, footwork, combinations, and ring IQ. De La Hoya also recalled past opponents with similar abilities, who made Álvarez "look bad." Such as Floyd Mayweather, Erislandy Lara, Dmitry Bivol, and William Scull.
"Canelo cannot handle boxers," said De La Hoya. "That's the bottom line. Because he's too heavy on his feet."
However, the six-division world champion also questioned Crawford's ability to stand and trade punches with the bigger Álvarez. As De La Hoya took note of Álvarez's power and precise counterpunching. Álvarez has not won a fight by stoppage since an eleventh-round TKO win against then-IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant in November 2021.
Each of his last six wins has gone the full 12 rounds. Though there is no denying that his punches still carry plenty of pop.
"If you get caught by Canelo's punch, you're going down," said De La Hoya. "You're gonna get knocked out. So this fight, I have it as a close decision for Crawford. If it goes to a decision. And a late knockout, between the seventh and 10th round for Canelo."
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