Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Even at the ripe age of 47, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya still thinks he’s beat the brakes off Conor McGregor in a ring.
Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya was once the most vocal critic of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor boxing superfight, but now it kinda sounds like the former champ might like to be next in the ring with McGregor to prove just how different things are in boxing versus mixed martial arts.
In a recent appearance on CBS Sports’ State of Combat podcast, Oscar responded to a question regarding a ‘mythical matchup’ between the two, and unsurprisingly he thinks he would still take Conor in a boxing ring.
“Two rounds. Come on, brother. Two rounds!” Mayweather said on how things would go. “Because one thing about me, I went for the kill always. And look, Conor McGregor, I love him in the Octagon, I respect him, I watch him all the time. But the boxing ring is a whole different story. A whole different story.”
This isn’t the first time De La Hoya has shared that prediction.
“You know I still have it in me. I’ve been secretly training,” he revealed in 2017. “Secretly training. I’m faster than ever, and stronger than ever. I know I could take out Conor McGregor in two rounds. I’ll come back for that fight. Two rounds. Just one more. I’m calling him out. Two rounds. That’s all I need. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Nothing ever came of the call out, probably because UFC president Dana White despises De La Hoya and never misses out on an opportunity to question whether Oscar’s on the sauce or snow. The two battled over De La Hoya’s attempted boycott of Mayweather vs. McGregor and then things escalated when Golden Boy got into the MMA business by promoting Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell 3. The current chances of White working with De La Hoya? Pretty damn low, if you ask us. Almost zero percent.
But if there’s still bad blood, it’s mostly on White’s side. De La Hoya was pretty complimentary of Dana’s controversial managing of the Coronavirus situation during the interview.
“I commend and respect Dana,” he said. “We did have our differences. When I wanted to get involved with the MMA, I did Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, it was a huge success. I dipped my toes into the water, and I experienced it. It was actually wonderful. I love MMA. Dana came out and criticized me and ridiculed me and all that stuff. You know what? Dana is doing a phenomenal job in defending his sport, growing his sport, and he’s doing it big. He’s doing it great, man. I commend him.”
De La Hoya also shared his thoughts on his 2007 fight with Floyd Mayweather, which saw Oscar ahead on the judges’ scorecards until later in the fight.
“That’s the beauty of Mayweather is he knows how to adjust,” he said. “And there was nothing I could do to adjust my gameplan because I had two rotator cuff tears on both shoulders, I was a little over the hill. I felt great but once that seventh, eighth round kicks in, your body just breaks down and that’s exactly what happened. And Mayweather executed, he did a brilliant gameplan and he beat me.”
As for why there was never a rematch between the two?
“Bro, I had a rematch clause for one year, and what does he do? He retires for one year and one day,” De La Hoya said. “I mean, come on. Come on. You don’t need that. Give me the chance, give me the remach, give me the opportunity to try again. But that’s Mayweather, I give him all the credit because hey who knows what would happen, only he knows, because if you looked at his face after our fight, I tell you, you’ve never seen Mayweather that beat up.”