It appears that the recent attempts made by boxing legends to wear their fighting gloves again inspired Oscar De La Hoya to give the sport another go. The six-division world champion announced recently he is working out to regain his fighting form and possibly slug again but certainly not against Manny Pacquiao.
In a recent interview, the pugilist said the thought of boxing again excites him and more so if a big fight can be arranged soon. De La Hoya made clear he is only fighting the best out there and an obvious priority is the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The 47-year-old said another chance to square off with the man who conquered him in the past would be intriguing as it will be "a revenge fight." He surely has a score to settle with Mayweather if given the chance.
And the same applies to Pacquiao, whose dominance of De La Hoya in December 2008 sent the Golden Boy to retirement. The latter, however, is not too keen on getting another shot at the Filipino boxing icon, adding that a rematch with the eight-division world titleholder is not in consideration.
"Manny Pacquiao is a guy who has so much energy and he is a southpaw ... We do have history together where obviously he beat me, but it just wouldn't be the right style for me at this moment of my life," the Olympics gold medalist admitted, and per the report from Rappler.
With Pacquiao out of the question, De La Hoya nominated the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin as the more viable candidates for a high-profile fight. He described Alvarez as among the big prizes that he is aiming for.
As for Golovkin, De La Hoya said tearing down the Kazakhstan national should be easy as he boasted: "I always took apart fighters like him."
Such an assessment made by De La Hoya is a fair one, according to Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, who agreed that a De La Hoya vs. Golovkin will get a favorable result for the American. However, the Golden Boy prevailing will greatly depend on his attitude about the fight.
The Los Angeles native must take on the showdown with GGG seriously, and he needs to fight leveraging his experience. In short, for De La Hoya to score a win he must prepare hard and fight smart, Hopkins said.
"A smart (De La Hoya) ... that can pick the lock and systematically knowing that if he has the right plan, the right condition with all his experience, Oscar wins by unanimous decision," Bad Left Hook reported the boxing legend as saying.
Hopkins warned that while Golovkin may have shown signs of decline, the punch is still there and it would be a grave mistake on De La Hoya's part to underestimate the former middleweight champion.
