Canelo Alvarez Ranked Below Bitter Foe By Terence Crawford

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.