Canelo Alvarez would have knocked Conor McGregor out 'in one round or two rounds'

Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar Del La Hoya believes Saul "Canelo" Alvarez would have taken far less time in finishing Conor McGregor than Floyd Mayweather did.

Mayweather took on McGregor on Saturday night (26 August) as he defeated the Irishman via a 10th-round stoppage in a big-money fight that has been overshadowing Canelo's own upcoming middleweight title fight with Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin on 16 September.

Del La Hoya was never a fan of The Money Fight and made no secret of what he thought about it just a couple of days before it took place.

Despite him previously claiming that the contest could ruin boxing, it turned out to be fairly entertaining and competitive with the "Notorious" receiving credit for going 10 rounds with Mayweather.

However, DeL La Hoya believes the only reason McGregor lasted that long was because "Money", who notably bet on himself finishing McGregor in under 9.5 rounds, let him.

"Because Mayweather let him," De La Hoya said on The MMA Hour. "The first four of five rounds, he let him do that. The punches are coming from different angles. It was a bit awkward to watch, actually."

The former boxer added that Canelo, who he promotes, would have knocked McGregor out early on and that combat sports fans will see what a true boxing match is next month.

"After seeing Saturday's fight, Canelo probably would have knocked [McGregor] out in one round or two rounds," he added. "Canelo is a knockout guy, he's a guy who's not gonna trick people into making a fight last longer than it should last."

"I'm glad all these people spent their hundred dollars on watching this event. Now on Sept. 16, they will know what two pure boxers will be demonstrating and showing. ... You'll find out what a boxing match is."

Despite not being a fan of the Mayweather vs McGregor match-up, Del La Hoya maintains that he respects anyone willing to step up and fight. However, he wants to see cross-code fights end from now on.

"I respect any fighter that gets into the ring, that's the bottomline," De La Hoya explained. "The fact that McGregor even tried, there's huge respect from my part to him."

"I respect the UFC, I respect any UFC fighter that's in the Octagon, I respect fighters that put their life on the line. What I'm trying to say is they're two different sports and I don't want to see anything like it again.

"I probably will even go to his fight or buy his next fight when he steps into the Octagon again, because he's an amazing guy."