Although Terence Crawford has achieved remarkable success in the ring, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya believes one former welterweight king was on a different level compared to ‘Bud.’
Crawford ended his illustrious career last year, just a few months after arguably his greatest win—defeating Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion. Over the years, Crawford also became undisputed at super-lightweight and held world titles at lightweight and super-welterweight. However, his time in the welterweight division is what ‘Bud’ will likely be most remembered for. He competed at 147lbs eight times, winning every fight by stoppage, defeating the likes of Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, and Amir Khan to become undisputed in that division as well.
Despite all that, De La Hoya told FightHype that he believes former rival Floyd Mayweather is ‘much more superior’ to Crawford, citing their respective performances against Canelo. “Floyd Mayweather toyed with Canelo—he literally toyed with him. He didn’t get hit at all, not one time. And Crawford, yeah, he’s more of a fighter-boxer—Mayweather’s more of a boxer—but I have to disagree [that Crawford was better]. I think Mayweather is much more superior than Crawford, not just because he beat me and it was a close fight, or that I stepped in the ring with Mayweather, but I really feel that, technically, Mayweather’s a better fighter.”
Mayweather defeated Canelo in September 2013 and also beat other icons such as De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley, and Juan Manuel Marquez throughout his career. He retired in 2017 with a perfect 50-0 record, and while he looked set to return to professional action to take on Pacquiao in a rematch this September, there has recently been some confusion regarding the bout.
