Oscar De La Hoya has decided to join in on the quarantine call out fun. The former six division world champion made the claim that even at the age of 47, he wiped the floor with UFC mega star Conor McGregor.
“Two rounds. Because one thing about me, one thing about me, I went for the kill always,” said De La Hoya on CBS Sports podcast State of Combat. “And look, Conor McGregor is — I love him in The Octagon. I respect him. I watch him all the time. But the boxing ring is a whole different story. It’s a whole different story.”
Fighters have grown more and more irritated as they are forced to stay inside during this global pandemic. Looking at the walls and laying on the couch has quickly gotten under the skin of everyone, and the result of this longer than expected quarantine has been fighters calling out each other non stop.
Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia has made the rounds, calling out Gervonta Davis, Jorge Linares, Abner Mares and a host of others. Super Middleweight champions Caleb Plant and David Benavidez have continued to call each other every foul word in the English dictionary, and Shawn Porter has had a lot to say about everyone in the Welterweight division.
While those call outs might be expected, De La Hoya’s rant against McGregor was not.
If there’s one word that can properly describe the UFC star, it would be loquacious. So it comes to no surprise that he wasted no time in answering the call.
“I accept your challenge, Oscar de la Hoya,” said McGregor on Twitter.
With older fighters such as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield recently ending their retirement for ring glory, the 47 year old De La Hoya doesn’t intend on joining them. Claiming that he was merely “speaking the truth.”
An official call out may not have come out of the mouth of De La Hoya but his words were almost verbatim to what he said just a few years ago.
“You know I still have it in me. I’ve been secretly training,” De La Hoya said in 2017. “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 was last seen in the ring in 2008, losing via ninth round stoppage to Manny Pacquiao. Before then, De La Hoya was a six division champion and a 1992 gold medal winner. He capped off his career with an induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.
Credit: BoxingInsider