Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre, reveals he nearly boxed Oscar De La Hoya a few years ago.
St-Pierre last competed in 2017 after he became the middleweight champion with a submission win over Michael Bisping. Due to health reasons, he retired, but there were talks of him coming out of retirement to face Khabib Nurmagomedov but that didn’t happen.
Along with that, Georges St-Pierre says he had agreed to box Oscar De La Hoya but UFC CEO Dana White shut the fight down.
“It did not happen because, Dana White told me, Dana White hates Oscar De La Hoya. My contract, after you retire, you still have a few years, depending on the contract, my contract the way it was made, I still had ties with the UFC. I still had tied with UFC, when I asked Dana for permission he was like ‘F that guy’. That’s why, and then he called me after, he said he wanted me to fight Khabib, but Khabib already retired and I already retired,” St-Pierre said on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.
It is interesting that St-Pierre was even in talks to box Oscar De La Hoya as the Canadian has no experience with boxing. But, had the fight happen, it would have been a highly-anticipated bout and one many fans would have been excited for.
Georges St-Pierre claims Dana White originally thought Oscar De La Hoya would destroy him
This isn’t the first time Georges St-Pierre talked about a potential matchup with Oscar De La Hoya.
However, back in 2021, St-Pierre says originally White shut it down because he thought he would get destroyed by the boxer.
“At first he says to me that the reason why he did not want it is because he thought that Oscar would basically destroy me in a boxing match. And I had some good arguments — I told him that I believe Oscar has more mileage than I do, he’s no longer in his prime, I stayed busy the whole time, I’m still in great shape, I’m going to be very well prepared and I’m taking this fight very seriously.”
“If I do it, because it’s my name — my image is attached to it — I will do it 100 percent. And I told Dana, I said, ‘If there’s one MMA fighter that go to boxing and look good in this situation, it would be me,’” St-Pierre said to The MMA Hour back in 2021.
Ultimately, St-Pierre is now fine in retirement and it looks like he won’t fight again.