Oscar De La Hoya is still looking to make his return to the boxing ring and is now turning his focus back on former foe Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Remember, De La Hoya was supposed to make his boxing comeback earlier this year in a matchup against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort. However, “Golden Boy” ended up testing positive for COVID-19 about a week before the fight and was replaced by heavyweight boxing legend Evander Holyfield.
De La Hoya has since made a full recovery from COVID-19 and is now looking to schedule his next opponent for 2022. The matchup with Belfort, who demolished Holyfield in a one-sided boxing beatdown, is still a possibility, but De La Hoya is also targeting a potential rematch with Mayweather.
“It could be Floyd Mayweather,” De La Hoya told TMZ Sports when asked about his next fight. “It wouldn’t be an exhibition, with somebody like Floyd, it would be a real fight. It’s probably the biggest fight that you could make today that would generate tons of money, so that would be nice.”
De La Hoya, 48, first tested his luck against Mayweather all the way back in 2007 when he was still competing at the highest level. “Golden Boy” ended up losing to “Money” via split decision and relinquished his WBC light middleweight title in the process. De La Hoya already presented the idea of a $100 million rematch with Mayweather earlier this year following his bout with COVID-19, but he’s pushing the envelope once again.
“Look, he’s the top P4P fighter in the world. Right now, he’s the best, whether he comes back or not. It would be a pleasure to be in the ring with him and just make a huge event out of it and a great fight for the fans. If after the holidays we can sit down and talk and (hopefully) make something happen,” De La Hoya added.
Mayweather, who won 12 more fights after his win over De La Hoya, currently sits at 50-0 in his professional boxing career. The pound-for-pound legend has been more interested in exhibition matches against the likes of Logan Paul and Tenshin Nasukawa of late, but maybe Mayweather would be open to the idea of fighting De La Hoya once more if the money was right.
We’ll have to wait and see if the two boxing legends lock horns once again as 2022 rolls around.