Oscar De La Hoya has identified one modern great who, he suspects, would not stand a chance at winning their hypothetical mega fight.
Once considered the ‘face of boxing’, De La Hoya crafted a Hall of Fame fighting career before assembling a major promotional stable under his Golden Boy banner.
Remarkably, he managed to become a six-division world champion and, in doing so, was generally embraced as one of America’s biggest sporting stars.
Such widespread attention eventually contributed to his money-spinning showdown with Floyd Mayweather, who managed to edge their super-welterweight contest by split decision in 2007.
Back then, De La Hoya was no longer in his prime and, despite his controversial middleweight triumph against Felix Sturm in 2004, was typically more successful in the lower divisions.
If he was to choose any active fighter as an opponent, though, then it would nonetheless face Canelo Alvarez on a Cinco de Mayo weekend.
With Canelo’s best performances arguably arriving at super-middleweight, De La Hoya would perhaps be contending with a size disadvantage but, even so, the Mexican-American has told Carl Froch that, stylistically and commercially, he could not wish for a more ideal dance partner.
“From this era, the only guy I would’ve picked is probably Canelo. He’s made a legacy for himself; he’s had longevity in his career; he’s been the face of boxing for quite a while now. So I think I would’ve loved to take him on.
“That would’ve been a walk in the park. What I would’ve done to Canelo is not even funny. His flat-footed stance would’ve been so easy to just dissect. Do I knock him out? I don’t know, because he’s got a good chin. But do I outclass him? Yeah – look at what Mayweather did to him. Our era was just different.”
While others would certainly make De La Hoya a favourite against Canelo, the Golden Boy promoter’s insistence on a dominant victory could be somewhat explained by his sour relationship with the four-division world champion.
