Oscar De La Hoya was once boxing's "Golden Boy," holding the mantle as the sport's top draw before ceding it to Floyd Mayweather Jr. after their record -breaking fight in 2007. TMZ cameras recently caught up with De La Hoya, who is now a promoter with a star fighter in Canelo Alvarez in his stable.
Alvarez is a candidate to fight boxing's premier knockout artist, Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, in the near future. There have also been rumblings from veteran Shane Mosley about coaxing De La Hoya out of the ring for a fight. De La Hoya laughed about Mosley's call-out, saying he didn't want to lose to him a third time.
Then De La Hoya said "If I ever come back...if I ever come back, and I think about it every day, I'll fight...Triple G."
The odds are basically nil that De La Hoya, at 42 years of age, would return to the ring to face the most feared fighter in the sport. However, it's fun to think about what De La Hoya in his prime would be able to do against an offensive machine like Golovkin.
First, the fight would have to happen at 154 pounds; Golovkin has said that he would be willing to fight at junior middleweight vs. Floyd Mayweather, so assuming he took a trip in a time machine Golovkin would probably make that concession to face De La Hoya at his peak.
Both fighters were primarily offensive. While Golovkin is a master of distance and precision, De La Hoya employed the sport's best jab when he was at his best, as well as a killer left hook. At 154 pounds, Golovkin would be pretty drained physically, and could potentially lose some of his power. He also has one noticeable flaw in that he rarely moves his head. A stationary target for De La Hoya's jab could be fatal.
On the other hand, De La Hoya sometimes lost fights by abandoning good game plans, or neglecting to keep up his jab. While a good puncher for his weight class, the larger Golovkin would most likely be able to take some hard shots and return fire. GGG has power in both hands, possesses a better-than-passable jab, and works the body and head with equal attention.
In the end, SWN gives the nod to Golovkin by knockout, but respects De La Hoya's courage.
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