Oscar De La Hoya didn’t identify a potential opponent for the comeback he is considering.

“The Golden Boy” didn’t eliminate the most intriguing possible foe for what would be his first fight in 12 years, either. When asked by Chris Mannix if we could see De La Hoya-Canelo in 2021, Alvarez’s promoter surprisingly didn’t dismiss it.

“I don’t know,” De La Hoya replied during the most recent episode of Mannix’s Sports Illustrated boxing podcast.

When Mannix reminded De La Hoya he hadn’t offered a firm “no,” the retired six-division champion continued to entertain the idea of fighting the most prominent boxer his company promotes.

“Crazy,” De La Hoya replied, “but not that crazy.”

Golden Boy Promotions has guided Mexico’s Alvarez to superstardom, but the relationship between Alvarez and De La Hoya has become complicated in recent years. De La Hoya has likened the tension between them to squabbles among family members.

A bout between De La Hoya and Alvarez obviously would attract an enormous amount of attention, despite De La Hoya’s extremely long layoff. The 47-year-old De La Hoya also would be a huge underdog against Alvarez, who is 17 years younger than him and is commonly considered one of the top three boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport.

Whereas Alvarez’s improvements have elevated the four-division champion to the sport’s elite level, De La Hoya hasn’t boxed in 11½ years.

The 1992 Olympic gold medalist was battered by Manny Pacquiao throughout his last fight, in which De La Hoya declined to continue following eight one-sided rounds in December 2008 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. De La Hoya was 35 when he announced his retirement following that lopsided defeat.

De La Hoya has discussed coming back several times during his retirement, though he appears more serious about it this time around.

He told Mannix he has sparred six rounds apiece during recent training sessions. De La Hoya hopes to spar 12 rounds regularly by September, when he intends to better assess the possibility of a comeback during “the first quarter of next year.”

De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) mentioned coming back as a 154-pounder, one of the weights at which he won world titles during his 16-year pro career. The 30-year-old Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) isn’t likely to compete any lower than the middleweight limit of 160 pounds, but De La Hoya hasn’t ruled out facing a fighter he once mentored.

“Canelo’s an amazing fighter,” De La Hoya said. “He’s the best. He’s the pound-for-pound champ. He hits like a mule. I don’t know, Chris, you’re throwing me in the fire here. But that’s a challenge that – you know, I never back down from anybody. But we’ll have to wait and see.”

Meanwhile, De La Hoya and his cohorts at Golden Boy Promotions are in the process of securing an opponent for Alvarez’s next fight. Sergiy Derevyanchenko, David Lemieux, John Ryder, Callum Smith and Anthony Dirrell are among the potential opponents they’ve discussed for a fight that is tentatively scheduled for September 12 at an undetermined location. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.