By Miguel Rivera

When Oscar De La Hoya turned 25, he had already won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics and won 27 professional fights with titles at super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight and welterweight - with wins over fighters high quality and many veterans of the ring.

Despite their number, and accomplishments, the Golden Boy Promotions President believes his star fighter, 25-year-old Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, has already surpassed him.

Canelo has accumulated a record of 46-1-1 with 32 knockouts. And De La Hoya says the Mexican superstar is the new face of boxing.

At 25 years old, De La Hoya had already been part of six pay-per-view events - while Canelo has been part of four. The 'Golden Boy' had sold 2.4 million pay-per-view homes at this point, while Canelo has reached 3.75 million homes.

"I see some similarities, of course, but I feel that Saul is more advanced than me at this point in his career," De La Hoya told ESPN Deportes.

"He has accomplished more than I did when I was 25 years old. Many people forget that he is just 25 years old. So at this early stage of his career he is a bit more advanced. And that to me that is admirable. I admire his career and I will support him one hundred percent, because he is still young and has much to accomplish.

At 25, De La Hoya had faced many champions or former champions like Hector Camacho, Pernell Whitaker, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jesse James Leija, Genaro Hernandez, Rafael Ruelas and Jorge Paez. He won all of those fights, including seven by knockout including Chavez Sr.

At the same age, Canelo has faced several champions and former champions like Miguel Vazquez, Carlos Baldomir, Lovemore Ndou, Kermit Cintron, Shane Mosley, Austin Trout, Floyd Mayweather, Erislandy Lara and Miguel Cotto. He lost to Mayweather, and knocked out three of those opponents.

Canelo is back on May 7th, when he defends the WBC middleweight title against Amir Kan at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.