In a shocking twist, six division world champion Oscar De La Hoya appeared on a radio show produced by his promotional company, Golden Boy Promotions, and stated that he's been ‘secretly’ training for a comeback fight - hopefully against UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
De La Hoya, 44 years old, has been retired since taking a beating in his one-sided TKO defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in 2008 - a bout where De La Hoya killed his body to squeeze down to the welterweight limit of 147 pounds.
The statements from De La Hoya are shocking, because the Golden CEO was highly critical of McGregor's pro boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr. - which took place in August.
De La Hoya was so critical of that fight, that he penned an open letter that was posted to the internet, where the former boxer tried to rally the boxing public to boycott the pay-per-view event.
But the boycott failed, as Mayweather-McGregor generated over 4 million pay-per-view purchase and became the second most successful PPV event in history.
McGregor got off to a good start against Mayweather, but eventually he became exhausted and was stopped in the tenth round.
De La Hoya believes he could finish McGregor in only two rounds.
"I’ve been working out for the last five months,” De La Hoya told Golden Boy Radio - when he was questioned about the seriousness of his desire to fight McGregor.
“You know I’m competitive. You know I still have it in me. I’ve been secretly training. 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.
De la Hoya also ruled out any possibility of facing McGregor under UFC rules.
“He’s a big Irishman! He’s the king. He’s the king. Hey, let’s get it straight: in the cage, he would freakin’ destroy me. He would destroy me! No, [the fight would have to be] in the ring," De La Hoya said.