While backing himself in a hypothetical battle with Thomas Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya equally admits that another legend would have likely had his number.
Given their respective careers, a fantasy matchup between De La Hoya and Hearns would have perhaps taken place at welter or super-welterweight.
The 154lbs division was arguably a more fruitful hunting ground for the ‘Hitman’, especially when considering his victories over the likes of Roberto Duran and Wilfred Benitez.
De La Hoya, however, did become a two-time world super-welterweight champion after dethroning Javier Castillejo and Ricardo Mayorga in 2001 and 2006, respectively.
Those victories, along with his 11th-round stoppage win over Fernando Vargas in 2002, certainly allowed the Californian to make his mark at 154lbs.
But while remaining confident that, against Hearns, he might have had his hand raised, De La Hoya is not so sure that he would have enjoyed the same success in a showdown with Sugar Ray Robinson.
Across his astonishing 201-fight career, which has inspired many to regard him as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time, Robinson claimed world titles at both welter and middleweight.
It was at 160lbs, though, where he arguably amassed his most impressive run of victories over the likes of Jake LaMotta, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer and Randolph Turpin.
And yet, even at 147lbs, De La Hoya may not have fared any better, particularly given Robinson’s wins over Jimmy Doyle, Tommy Bell, Kid Gavilan and Chuck Taylor.
In an interview with Daily Mail Boxing, De La Hoya was modest enough to admit that Robinson, at any weight, would have more than likely gotten the better of him.
