Oscar De La Hoya vs Canelo Alvarez at 155 Goes to the Veteran
One of boxing’s most heated out-of-ring rivalries involves allies-turn-enemies Oscar De La Hoya and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The Hall of Fame Inductee never misses an opportunity to try to one-up the current unified super middleweight champion. However, fortunately for Canelo, he won’t have to physically endure the beating he would have suffered had he challenged his former promoter in his heyday at the infamous 155-pound Canelo-weight.
De La Hoya and Canelo each previously held the WBC title at junior middleweight, so we’ll use that division as the base of our comparison.
A LOOK AT THE FIGHTERS
There is no denying that Canelo (61-2-2, 39KO) is a top-level fighter. However, he was still a fighter-in-the-making during his run as a junior middleweight. He possessed a solid chin, was a good body puncher, and had a decent ring IQ. Yet, his lack of footwork, ability to cut off the ring, and stamina issues were known problems, then.
De La Hoya (39-6, 30KO) had a serious jab that he used to set up other punches like the right hand and the hook to the body. His footwork, speed, overall boxing ability, and ring awareness were top-notch by this time in his career. To bring show the clear divide between the two fighters, a common opponent will be used to judge each fighter’s ability to be successful. That fighter is none other than Hall of Fame Inductee Floyd Mayweather.
Canelo struggled against an older Mayweather, who was still at the top of his game. Outside of CJ Ross’ ridiculous scorecard of 114-114, he got outboxed at every turn of the fight. There was even a point when Mayweather walked down the younger Alvarez.
On the other hand, De La Hoya narrowly only lost to Mayweather. He received two scorecards of 115-113 with one being 116-112. In addition, his jab was giving then-prime Mayweather serious trouble early in the fight. Many pundits believed if the Golden Boy CEO had kept using the jab, the outcome would have been different.
HOW BAD WOULD IT BE?
Some fans like to say that Canelo was green when he fought Mayweather. That excuse doesn’t fly because he was already a champion and was on pace to fight Miguel Cotto. However, Cotto lost to Austin Trout, who went on to lose to Alvarez.
In this author’s opinion, the later rounds would have been a problem for Canelo due to his stamina issues. Meanwhile, De La Hoya would have found another gear in those championship rounds. His jab, speed, and movement would have carried him to victory by the tune of 117-111.
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