KEY POINTS

  • Oscar De La Hoya discusses Conor McGregor's case to be his comeback opponent
  • De La Hoya insists he has always respected McGregor
  • The UFC star is focused on his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier 

Oscar De La Hoya is not closing the door for a super-fight against UFC star Conor McGregor.

After struggling to find a suitable opponent, De La Hoya was prompted to reschedule his return, which was initially targeted on July 3.

Speaking to Henry Cejudo and Elie Seckbach of EsNews ahead of his appearance on “Hot Boxin’ with Mike Tyson,” De La Hoya was quizzed to reveal his thoughts on a potential fight against McGregor.

According to the former champ, McGregor presents a strong case to be his opponent because of the Irishman's drawing power based on his recent fights.

“That’ll be interesting,” De La Hoya said of fighting McGregor. “After he made half a billion dollars, I think Conor’s pretty good [opponent].”

It can be recalled that McGregor seemingly went a bit too personal with Floyd Mayweather Jr. during his last and only professional boxing match.

For De La Hoya, fighters should always have “respect” for each other, suggesting that things will not go beyond boxing between him and McGregor should the fight comes to fruition.

“I always respected him (McGregor),” the Olympic gold medalist assured. “There’s always respect amongst fighters. There has to be. Unless you have like a beef with somebody.”

Oscar De La Hoya with Snoop Dogg
Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya (L) is greeted onstage by rapper Snoop Dogg during a news conference for Triller Fight Club's inaugural 2021 boxing event at The Venetian Las Vegas on March 26, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Getty Images | Ethan Miller

Should De La Hoya decide to pursue a bout against McGregor, his return will likely be delayed once again as “Notorious” is already booked for a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier on July 10 at UFC 264.

Ahead of the rubber match, McGregor insisted that Poirier has “awoken a beast” and vowed to beat his arch-rival in a “game of tactics.”

"I'm training very, very hard," McGregor told Fox Sports. "I beat him in the original bout [in 2014]. I lost in the rematch. And then we've got trilogy, I've got a few little adjustments to make.”

"I feel very, very confident,” he added. “I'm very focused and driven. And I'll go in there and put on one hell of a performance and get it back on July 10. [Poirier's team] wanna play a game of tactics? No problem, see you in there. You've awoken a beast. A beast with the backing of a much higher power! Say your prayers."

Prior to addressing McGregor, De La Hoya earlier hinted at a possible “real fight” against Mayweather.

“I’ll tell you one thing, bro. Let me get, let me get like, two fights in, you know. And then you watch. I can f***ing call out Mayweather,” he told Fighthype.com “ You watch. In a f***ing real fight, bro."

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