The war of words continues. UFC president, Dana White has given his opinion on the reported planned return to professional boxing, for the decorated, Oscar De La Hoya.
De La Hoya, 47 – has yet to enter the boxing ring since his December 2008 defeat to fellow sport icon, Manny Pacquiao. The Californian has since become a notable boxing promoter, heading up Golden Boy Promotions which represents current three-weight world champion, Canelo Álvarez, among a slew of other world titleholders.
De La Hoya and White have both shared a chequered history, with White criticising De La Hoya’s decision to promote a trilogy meeting between former UFC light heavyweight champions, Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell, and Tito ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ Ortiz back in November 2018.
White infamously called, De La Hoya a, “f*cking cokehead junkie“ prior to the trilogy meeting, after the latter questioned whether or not White should’ve convinced Liddell to retire back in June 2010 after a knockout loss to Rich Franklin.
Following UFC Fight Night Vegas 7 last night, White was asked by The Mac Life reporter, Oscar Willis at a press conference – for his thoughts on De La Hoya’s supposed second foray into professional boxing, quibbling a memorable one-liner.
“Cocaine isn’t cheap,” White laughed. “It’s expensive. You’ve got to make money.“
Former WBC light middleweight champion, De La Hoya admitted to using cocaine in 2018 and received treatment at a rehabilitation facility in his native California for alcoholism.
With a 39-6 professional record, De La Hoya has managed notable victories over Jeff Mayweather, Julio César Chávez (x2), the late Pernell Whittaker, Arturo Gatti, Javier Castillejo, and Ricardo Mayorga to name a few. Before his aforementioned defeat to Pacquaio, De La Hoya dropped losses to fellow former world champions, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley (x2), and Félix Trinidad.
As of writing, a potential opponent for De La Hoya’s planned return to the squared circle has yet to be determined.