Oscar De La Hoya was The Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year in ’97 and ’98.
‘The Golden Boy’ went 31 fights undefeated in his campaign before losing his welterweight world title to Felix Trinidad in 1999. He would go on to lose only to the very best of his era and hang up the gloves with 39 wins from 45 fights.
De La Hoya’s flashy fighting style was unique in that he was naturally left-handed but fought out of the orthodox stance, building a complete offence that saw him rise to the very top of the sport. Most who witnessed him wouldn’t argue against his status as one of the very best regardless of weight class.
Fast forward to now and the current top three for most fans and pundits are the only men to become two-division undisputed in the four belt era – Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue.
Speaking to FightHype, De La Hoya said Crawford tops the list for him, praising his recent world title winning debut at super-welterweight.
“Crawford, I love, because he’s probably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. His style is fan-friendly. He’s a tremendous boxer, undefeated. He went up a weight class and met a guy who was really tough. Sometimes you’re not gonna look as good as you did in your previous fights fighting smaller guys. It’s okay. It’s a learning process. He has to establish himself at 154. He probably fought the toughest guy. Not the most dangerous guy but the toughest guy.”
Following his undisputed success at welterweight last year – the second time he has cleared out a division entirely – Crawford moved up to the 154 ranks and beat Israil Madrimov over the distance, ending a long stoppage streak but taking the belt back to Omaha.
In the same interview, De La Hoya spoke up a fight between ‘Bud’ and his charge Vergil Ortiz, but it’s widely thought that Crawford only has eyes for one opponent – Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – before retirement.
