Oscar De La Hoya says Mayweather should fight GGG or Canelo Alvarez instead of McGregor
By José Youngs
Oscar De la Hoya says Floyd Mayweather should be seeking a fight with Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez instead of Conor McGregor
Boxing legend turned fight promoter Oscar De La Hoya thinks Floyd Mayweather is wasting his trying to book the superfight against UFC lightweight Conor McGregor.
Instead, Mayweather’s former foe claims the boxer should seeking a fight with the winner of the middleweight title bout between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, which is set to go down September 16.
“Even Floyd, after this fight with Canelo and Golovkin, forget about ‘The Notorious One,’ [Conor McGregor],” said De La Hoya during a recent appearance on ESPN’s First Take. “Forget about a fighter who has zero experience, who has zero fights, who has zero amateur experience. Forget about that. Mayweather’s better than that. Mayweather, if you want to fight or have a rematch against Canelo, or a fight against Golovkin, go after them. After Canelo and Golovkin fight, go after the winner.”
Alvarez (49-1-1 boxing, 34 KOs) previously dropped a majority decision to Mayweather in September 2014, marking the first setback of his career. In his most recent contest, the Mexican pugilist was last seen dominating Julio César Chavez Jr. en route to a unanimous decision last weekend. This victory pushed his win streak to seven straight, which includes a decision win over Miguel Cotto and a sixth-round knockout of Amir Khan.
Immediately following the decision, Alvarez revealed his match with Golovkin had finally been booked, much to the delight of the thunderous crowd.
Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) is coming off a decision win, the first of his career, over Daniel Jacobs earlier this year, retaining his title WBA, WBC, IBF and IBO belts and adding Jacobs’ WBA regular belt in the process.
Adding in another wrinkle, UFC President Dana White even revealed Alvarez vs. Golovkin took the date they were hoping to secure for Mayweather vs. McGregor.
McGregor (21-3 MMA) was last seen earning his second UFC championship with a crippling second-round knockout over former Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 last November. This victory made McGregor the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two separate weight classes at the same time.
Since then, both McGregor and Mayweather have continued to trade verbal jabs through the media while looking to book the cross-sport contest.
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While there were reports that both sides had finally reached an agreement, Mayweather shot down the rumors, claiming he was happy in retirement. He would later backtrack on these comments, announcing he was indeed returning to competition solely for the fight against McGregor.
Mayweather (49-0 boxing), has not stepped foot inside a boxing ring since his decision win over Andre Berto in September 2015.