As reported a few days ago, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya wants to fight one more time at age 44, and he wants his opponent to be UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
De La Hoya last fought in 2008, when he lost badly to Manny Pacquiao. He announced his retirement in April 2009.
"I still have it in me," De La Hoya said Monday on Golden Boy Radio with Tattoo and the Crew. "I've been secretly training, 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."
This past summer, De La Hoya ridiculed the idea of McGregor jumping into boxing and fighting Floyd Mayweather in August.
McGregor didn't embarrass himself in the ring, but he was still outclassed and lost by TKO in the 10th round.
It should be noted that, at the time, Mayweather-McGregor was taking the air out of the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin HBO pay-per-view - an event that De La Hoya's company was promoting.
Max Kellerman, an expert analyst for HBO Boxing and ESPN, is very interested in the idea of a De La Hoya vs. McGregor fight - simply because De La Hoya, a six division world champion, has been out of the ring for nearly ten years.
McGregor has opened up as the favorite on several well-known betting sites - which shocked Kellerman.
"The amazing thing is that Conor McGregor is favored in this fight. But McGregor is a talented fighter. He's athletic, he's in his prime. He's a southpaw, he takes boxing seriously. I was glad to see it. De La Hoya is of course wrong when he says that he's faster and stronger than ever. If that were the case then it wouldn't be an interesting fight," Kellerman said. "The last time we saw Oscar in the ring he was getting [demolished] by little Manny Pacquiao - ten years ago.
" So who wins? I gotta go with De La Hoya based on the exercise and based on the fact that he was a great champion when he fought. If he can be half that fighter, it would be more than enough to beat McGregor. But I don't know if he can be. Have you ever seen a baseball player come back after ten years to play in an old-timers game - it's like they forgot how to run and throw and catch. De La Hoya should win, but man it's an interesting matchup and a good way to pocket a quick $50 or $100 million for Oscar.
"Oscar has to fight with a handicap. And handicap is, is that he hasn't been in the ring for ten years. And when he was last in the ring he was getting whooped. There's the handicap. McGregor's been active, he just went ten rounds with Mayweather. Being out of the ring for ten years is no cupcake."