Oscar De La Hoya has branded Floyd Mayweather’s mooted showdown with Conor McGregor a “farce” that could irreparably stain boxing.
Mayweather last weekend revealed he is “90 per cent” likely to come out of retirement to face UFC lightweight champion McGregor, who has a licence to box in California and claimed he has already signed his contract to take on the American.
But former six-weight world champion De La Hoya, who lost a close points decision to Mayweather when they faced off 10 years ago, is aghast that such a potentially highly lucrative bout could go ahead.
Mayweather has diligently compiled a perfect 49-0 record and is widely regarded as the greatest fighter of his generation while his proposed opponent has never boxed professionally.
Even though the pair are arguably the highest-profile athletes in their respective fields and Mayweather has not competed since September 2015, De La Hoya has argued any boxing contest would be a complete mismatch.
In an open letter posted on Facebook, De La Hoya wrote: “To my fellow #boxing fans: I write in the hopes that together we can protect the sport of boxing.
“With each passing day, it looks more and more likely that the circus known as Floyd Mayweather Vs. Conor McGregor will be coming to town in the near future.
“As undercard fights start to take form, athletic commissions give their blessings in exchange for millions of dollars and the fighters start counting even more cash, one group will eventually be left to make sure this farce doesn’t occur.
“We, the fans, who are the lifeblood of our sport.
“I fully understand the initial attraction from any fan of combat sports. McGregor is almost certainly the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter. Floyd is Floyd – the most dominant boxer of his time.
“But success in one sport does not guarantee success in another. Far from it. And let’s be clear, these are two different sports.
“Furthermore, it’s not like McGregor would be fighting a good fighter, let alone a mediocre one. He would be fighting the best.
“To use a bit of an extreme analogy, I happen to be a pretty good golfer. Could I potentially hold my own on one of the second-tier tours? Maybe. But would I be able to compete with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith or Sergio Garcia? Of course not. Nor would I think to try.”
Golden Boy Promotions chairman and CEO De La Hoya acknowledged those who would question his motives for writing such a letter.
Any Mayweather-McGregor showdown later this year could potentially overshadow his company’s promotion of the Saul Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin bout in September.
But De La Hoya added: “My interest is in the health of boxing as a whole. Our sport might not ever recover.”
Mike Julz
Guest
I don't support this crossover fight but I think they should give this match a go first and see what happens. If it turns out to be a boxing clinic for Mayweather, than they should halt these crossover fights from ever happening again. If it turns out to be an entertaining fight, hopefully better than the Mayweathwer/Pac man fight, then this could be a start of many crossovers. All about the money of course.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
LOL
Rob9
Roar Guru
That's kind of the point I was getting at in that last comment. Although 'too slow' wouldn't the the case for some and although they're protected by helmets and pads, I wouldn't doubt their ability to take a hit.
BigJ
Roar Guru
If an nfl player ever switched to the nrl they would not last twenty minutes. Too big too slow too unfit and cant take a hit.
Rob9
Roar Guru
Isn’t the quote from Mayweather ‘IF’ he comes out of retirement he’s 90% to fight McGregor? Agree with ODLH, IF this gets off the ground it will be a farce. But in terms of ‘never being able to recover’, this sport isn’t exactly immune from the odd farce or 20 throughout its history and the show has always rolled on. Also, I don’t think Oscar’s golf comparison is a good one. I think he was just after an opportunity to talk himself up as a golfer. A more accurate analogy would be Jarryd Hayne’s crack at American Football. As a rugby league footballer, Hayne does a lot of things very, very well. As an American Footballer, whether it was on special teams or as a running back he had to do a handful of things extremely well and for mine (given his lack of training in these areas compared to the enormous number athletes who have grown up with the game) he was never going to be up to it. As an MMA athlete, Connor does a lot of things very, very well – of which, boxing is one. If he gets into the ring with Mayweather he will be fighting an athlete who has devoted his life to this one art form while building a professional career spanning 20 years that will see him go down as one of the greats. On the flip side, if Mayweather were to venture into the Octagon it would be like an American Footballer playing a game of NRL. It wouldn’t be pretty.
joe
Guest
The fight will be a joke but its not going to do irreparable harm to boxing as De La Hoya suggests. Boxing has already accomplished that itself a long time ago.The sport is a borderline joke & has been for awhile.This will be a pre fight spectacle to attract PPV numbers.The fight itself will be a non event
BigJ
Roar Guru
Yep just wrote about that fighg hopefully its gets published. Sugar Ray Leonard said the same thing
Alan
Guest
I suspect there have been "farces" that should have "irreparably stain(ed) boxing". I, sadly, vividly remember the Ali v Inoki "match" in 1976...