Oscar De La Hoya Reflects On Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov

Oscar De La Hoya still believes Terence Crawford is one of the best fighters ever, and his close win over Israil Madrimov doesn’t change that.

Crawford edged out a decision win over Madrimov in a fight that was closer than many thought. But, De La Hoya says the close fight didn’t change his opinion at all.

“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,” De La Hoya said (via BoxingScene).

Terence Crawford also moved up in weight again as he won a belt in a fourth division, which shows how good Crawford is, according to De La Hoya.

“He [Crawford] went up a weight class and he met up with a guy who is really tough, and sometimes you’re not going to look as good as you did in your previous fights fighting smaller guys,” De La Hoya said. “And it’s ok. 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.”

With the win, Terence Crawford is now 41-0 as a pro and before the win over Madrimov, he beat Errol Spence Jr. by TKO in a dominating performance.

Following Crawford’s latest win, the hope for Oscar De La Hoya is to book Crawford vs. Vergil Ortiz next.

“I think that Crawford vs. Vergil Ortiz, next year, first quarter will be a super fight,” De La Hoya said.

Vergil Ortiz is 21-0 as a pro and is coming off a KO win over Thomas Dulorme back in April. Before that, he scored a TKO win over Frederick Lawson. He also has notable wins over Samuel Vargas, Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and Roberto Ortiz among others.