Boxing

Canelo Alvarez Ranked Below Bitter Foe By Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford said one of Canelo Alvarez's most bitter rivals is a better boxer than him.
Grant Young|
Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

There are now 34 days until Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Terence Crawford face off in what's undoubtedly the most anticipated boxing fight for the rest of this calendar year.

Of course, Canelo (63-2-2 with 39 KOs) and Crawford (41-0-0 with 31KOs) are facing each other for Crawford's undisputed super middleweight belts on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While there's clearly a lot of mutual respect between these two generational talents, each has also shown a capacity to get under the other's skin every once in a while.

And something Crawford said during a recent interview with Ring Magazine is probably going to get on Canelo's nerves, if only because of the beef he has with the other boxing icon involved.

Crawford Ranks Oscar De La Hoya Over Canelo

Terence Crawford
IMAGO / Hoganphotos

In the aforementioned August article from Hans Themistode of Ring Magazine, Crawford is quoted as saying, “[Oscar De La Hoya] was better than Canelo."

The article also noted that while Crawford ranked Canelo higher than Carl Froch, Chris Eubank Jr, Felix Trinidad, Manny Pacquiao, Artur Beterbiev, and Bernard Hopkins, he wasn't willing to place De La Hoya beneath Alvarez at this point.

There's no doubt that this is a fair stance, given what De La Hoya accomplished in his professional career (which includes a 39-6 professional record with 30 KO victories, a 1992 Olympic gold medal, and 11 world titles in six weight classes, including lineal championships in three weight classes).

But it still seems like this might be a mental warfare tactic from Crawford.

Canelo's Beef With Oscar De La Hoya Unpacked

Canelo signed with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions back in 2010, when he was still just a promising prospect. After a decade of success together, the relationship between these two Mexican stars went sour. This was proven by Canelo filing a lawsuit against Golden Boy (and DAZN) over an alleged breach of contract back in 2020.

This lawsuit prompted tensions to keep simmering for years until it finally reached a boiling point during a May 2024 press conference, before Canelo fought Golden Boy's Jaime Munguia.

At one point in the presser, De La Hoya told Canelo to "show some f****** respect" and mentioned Canelo's positive PED test back in 2018. This prompted Canelo to jump out of his chair and try to create a physical confrontation with De La Hoya before he was stopped by security.

This is why Canelo would probably take exception to Crawford ranking De La Hoya above him in terms of boxing greatness.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.