Oscar De La Hoya retired from boxing in 2008 after a loss to fellow all-time great Manny Pacquiao. Over the last year, he has openly discussed making a return in his late forties, whether as an exhibition or an actual licensed competitive encounter. And this week, it was confirmed he would face MMA star Vitor Belfort in an exhibition on Sept. 11.
Now, 'The Golden Boy' has outlined the hoped endgame for his return. And it involves some unfinished business with an old rival.
During DAZN's coverage of Jaime Munguia's impressive win over Kamil Szeremeta, De La Hoya outlined where he sees his comeback going beyond Belfort.
“I want to make the biggest comeback in boxing history,” he said. “I want to get two of these fights down under my belt, and get the timing ready and everything, and then my third one, I want to call out Floyd Mayweather.”
DAZN's Chris Mannix, conducting the interview, noted to Oscar that Mayweather has absolutely zero interest in a non-exhibition at this stage of his career, being technically retired from professional contests with a perfect 50-0 record.
However De La Hoya, who lost to the Michigan fighter in 2007 in one of the biggest grossing fights of all time, believes there is more to Mayweather's non-competitive exploits including the recent spectacle against YouTuber Logan Paul.
“I think Floyd after that exhibition he did with with Logan, I think Floyd has — I think he’s feeling like he has to prove something once again inside the boxing ring," responded De La Hoya to Mannix.
"So look, if I come out OK, my body feels great — I’m telling you, may jab feels faster than ever. I think it’s the 15 years I didn’t use it. If I feel good these next two fights that I have, I’m going to call out Floyd.”