David Benavidez says he thinks a prime Oscar De La Hoya would beat a prime version of Canelo Alvarez if there were a way of matching the two during the zeniths of their careers.
The Weight Barrier
Unfortunately, the weight would have been a huge obstacle for the two to have ever fought. De La Hoya was at his best at 135 to 147 and peaked in 1999. He was really in his prime when he fought at lightweight from 1994 to 1996.
If there was a way of shrinking Canelo down to the same weight as De La Hoya without reducing his power, it would have been a realistic fight to make.
As big as Canelo is, he would have never been able to fight De La Hoya during their best years. But as far as skills and overall talent go, De La Hoya was a much better fighter than Canelo, who has always been a heavy-handed counterpuncher with good hand speed but poor stamina.
Canelo has been at his best at 168 after struggling at 160, losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr and Erislandy Lara, and arguably getting beaten twice by Gennadiy Golovkin in the eyes of fans. Lara and Golovkin both beat Canelo but were given controversial losses.
It wasn’t until Canelo got to 168 that he finally blossomed, but his opposition hasn’t been great in that weight class.
De La Hoya: The Superior Fighter?
“Oscar all day. A prime Oscar beats everybody,’ said David Benavidez to the media when asked who wins in a fight between a prime Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez.
“I think Oscar had a lot to get off his chest, and he finally had the platform to do it. He’s entitled to say whatever he wants to say. Everybody says what they want to say about him. So why can’t he speak his mind?” said Benavidez about his reaction to the remarks the promoter De La Hoya said about Canelo this week at the final press conference for Alvarez’s fight against Jaime Munguia tonight.
Canelo is a good fighter, and there’s no shame that he’ll never be as good as De La Hoya. There’s a difference in pedigree. De La Hoya is an Olympic gold medalist, who was the best in the world, and was blessed with better skills than Canelo.
