There has been a lot of heat over the shocking statements that were recently made by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who said that he would be ready to step back in the ring to face UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
The 44-year-old six division world champion, who has not fought since being battered to defeat by Manny Pacquiao in 2008, said he has been "secretly training" and is confident he could beat UFC champion McGregor.
"You know I'm competitive," De La Hoya said on 'Golden Boy Radio with Tattoo and the Crew', a daily digital radio show. "I still have it in me. I've been secretly training. I'm faster than ever and stronger than ever. I know I can take out Conor McGregor in two rounds. I'll come back for that fight. Two rounds. Just one more (fight). I'm calling him out. Two rounds, that's all I need. That's all I'm going to say."
De La Hoya flirted with the idea of a comeback in June 2015 only to rule it out a week later.
"I've been working out for the last five months. (My confidence) is how I feel now from my training. I don't know what it is, but I'll tell you now that I've never felt so good before in my life."
What makes the entire situation mind-boggling to many in the boxing industry, is De La Hoya was one of the loudest critics of McGregor's foray into boxing earlier this year, when he fought Floyd Mayweather in the main event of a massive pay-per-view event in August.
McGregor, 29, was stopped in the tenth round of that fight, which De La Hoya derided as a "circus" and a "farce".
De La Hoya even penned an open letter, where the Golden CEO was pleading with boxing fans to ignore the Mayweather-McGregor PPV.
And in the aftermath, he made allegations that the entire fight was fixed with Mayweather intentionally throwing away the first three rounds and ending the contest in the tenth to collection money on an alleged wager that was placed on the outcome.
Nobody was more shocked by De La Hoya's recent statements than Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions.
"This guy... he trashed our fight, he sent an open letter to the fans encouraging them not to buy our fight. And he did tons of interviews to trash the fight. Go sit down somewhere, it ain't happening," Ellerbe told the Mayweather Boxing Channel.
"He's wanted to be like Floyd his whole career. You're not Floyd, you're not Floyd. You've gotta move past that. At this point the fans are laughing at you. He's making a mockery out of himself."
