Oscar De La Hoya Says He'll Stay Retired Despite Potential Floyd Mayweather Bout
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya have had their fair share of clashes over the years both inside and outside the ring, but despite Money trying to coax The Golden Boy into one more fight, the retired fighter will not step back in the ring.
De La Hoya explained his decision to opt against a comeback fight in a post on his Facebook page:
On June 26, De La Hoya explained to Rick Reeno of Boxing Scene on why Mayweather needs to fight him, saying: "Of course [I'm not shocked], because he has nobody else to fight. Obviously he needs me more than I need him. If you think about it, it's obviously the easy way out. He wants the easy way out as usual."
Despite the decision not to fight, it was a proposition that intrigued the legendary fighter, who on June 21 posted on his official Twitter account, stating the "only possible way" he would come back would be to face the winner of a fight between Floyd and Gennady Golovkin.
De La Hoya explained that comment on June 23, telling Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. "I want to fight one of them because they are the best and I always fought the best. That's what boxing is all about—fighting the best."
"Right now I feel the best I have felt in my life physically, emotionally, mentally because I haven't touched alcohol for I don't know how long. I'm training. I feel great. But it has to be worth my while."
This went against what De La Hoya said in a June 18 Instagram video responding to Mayweather's offer to fight him in September, suggesting he was happy in retirement:
On June 17, Kel Dansby of BlackSportsOnline provided an Instagram video of Mayweather throwing down the challenge:
Mayweather and De La Hoya fought for the first and only time in May 2007. Mayweather won that bout and the WBC light-middleweight title, but it was among the closest contests of his career as he settled for a split-decision victory.
There has seemingly always been bad blood between the two fighters, and that manifested itself recently when De La Hoya was critical of Mayweather's win over Pacquiao in May.
De La Hoya didn't enjoy the lack of excitement and essentially labeled the so-called "fight of the century" a disappointment:
De La Hoya is seven years removed from his last fight, and even though Mayweather is much older at 38 than he was during their previous encounter, he would have a massive advantage due to the ring rust De La Hoya would undoubtedly had to overcome to prepare for the bout.
Mayweather's challenge seemed like an attempt to generate publicity and punk out one of his greatest rivals rather than an actual setup for a fight, one that De La Hoya isn't looking for.
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