Worldwide

Oscar De La Hoya Has Been Training, Wants To Box Conor McGregor

Published

on

Oscar De La Hoya Has Been Training, Wants To Box Conor McGregor

Oscar De La Hoya on Golden Boy Radio today said he will come out of retirement, and he has been training, because he wants to fight Conor McGregor.

“You know I'm competitive, I still have it in me,”  said the executive, a Hall of Fame boxer, now 44 years old. “I've been secretly training. Secretly training. And 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. Two rounds! One more. I'm calling him out. Two rounds, that's all I need! That's all I'm gonna say.”

When? Where? 2018? “That's all I'm saying,” he said.

ODLH last fought in 2008, losing to Manny Pacquiao in December of that year. “I’ve been working out for the last five months,” said the ex hitter.

This radio show, hosted by Tattoo and Jess Rosales, runs on Dash Radio, and is a three hour show, five days a week.

De La Hoya, who owns RING magazine and website, has been branching out, and is now building a multi-media conglomerate. The Tattoo and The Crew show will not just be boxing talk, he will talk other sports as well, and lifestyle as well.

Oscar said he feels so confident, in his training,”I’ve never felt so good in my life,” and that’s why he thinks he needs a round or two to down McGregor in a boxing match. No, no UFC or MMA rules, he wants the ring.

McGregor, a brash Irishman, talked himself into a massive payday with Floyd Mayweather, and De La Hoya and UFC boss Dana White had some chatter about that event, so the verbal fireworks leading to Oscar vs. Conor would be heavy duty. Oscar took shots at the promotion. A couple times

On Aug. 26, Mayweather went to 50-0, stopping out the MMAer officially in round ten. McGregor won a batch of new fans because he acquitted himself decently, being that many pundits, like Max Kellerman, opined that he'd be lucky to land a single punch on “Money.” And for four rounds or so, he looked decent and not out of his depth. Was Floyd “letting” him hang? I think Floyd was ushering him into deep waters, to more easily drown him…But Oscar sounds like he'd be seeking to take out McGregor right quick.

Floyd is himself 40 and says he will not box again, while McGregor is 29, and does not yet have his next fight, in the Octagon or otherwise, booked. He was in the news Saturday night, when he entered a Bellator cage and went off. He is the most relevant fighter in the world right now, bar none.

Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.