GSP voices his disappointment after shutdown of the De La Hoya fight

Boxing and MMA have been known to cross paths every now and then. James Toney vs Randy Couture, Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor, and the great Jake Paul vs Ben Askren to name a few. It now seems that GSP wants to take a step into the squared circle to take on a legend of the sport.

Oscar De LA Hoya recently declared his return to boxing at age 48 and has been looking for challengers to face him in the ring and of course there was talk of an MMA fighter stepping in to fight. Names like Eddie Alvarez and Anthony Pettis were brought up, but those bouts never became anything solid. 

GSP angled for a boxing match between himself and Oscar De La Hoya but Dana White has squashed such an event from taking place. It would involve co-promoting with Triller fight promotion, an idea that does not particularly interest White. Although GSP retired back in 2017 after capturing Middleweight gold opposite Micheal Bisping, he is still under contract with the UFC and would need them to sign off on his participation in a bout with De La Hoya. 

‘The Golden Boy’ De La Hoya took to his Instagram to express his frustration with UFC President Dana White.

George St. Pierre talks of a dream fight for him

GSP voiced his disappointment on an interview with CinemaBlend:

“I understand that Dana didn’t want me to fight,” St-Pierre said in an interview with Cinema Blend. “However, it would have been fun. Because my career as a professional fighter, to become the best in the world in mixed martial arts, is done. I’m turning 40 years old tomorrow; I’m going to be 40 years old. It’s a young man’s game.

“However, to rather fight a boxing match under the rules that Triller put on against the legendary Oscar De La Hoya? For me, it would have been a dream come true, because he is my second favorite boxer of all time, behind Sugar Ray Leonard. Plus, a lot of the money made would have been given to charity.”

GSP would not have taken De La Hoya lightly, stating: 

“I don’t have the audacity to pretend that I’m a better boxer than Oscar De La Hoya was because when he was in his prime, he’s one of the best that’s ever done it, and I come from a different sport. But take it now because of where we are in our lives. I think it would have been a good matchup between him and I because he’s older than me. Yeah, of course he has a lot more experience than me in boxing. But I’m younger, I’m a little bit bigger. So I think it would’ve made it a pretty even matchup. It could have been fun.”

The Spider Speaks Out

Anderson Silva is set to take on Julio Casear Chavez Jr. in a boxing match this weekend, and gave his opinion on the UFC blocking the GSP/De La Hoya fight. He gave an interview at the open workout for his fight Chavez Jr. and had this to say : 

“I think it no make sense, especially because Georges did a lot for the sport, especially for UFC. Why you hold the guy? This no makes sense…

“Georges is a fighter. You can’t hold a fighter. It’s the same if you take the lion in the jungle and put him inside the cage. The lion is going to die. You can’t do that. Nobody can do that. This makes no sense. This is terrible, terrible. Completely terrible.”

Silva ended his long term relationship with UFC, spanning nearly 14 years, which allowed him to pursue other opportunities such as this. Silva believes that GSP should be rewarded for the blood, sweat, and tears he gave to the UFC over his long and legendary career. 

“First of all, I think when you do your job, especially fight in the level me and Georges do it, people need to respect. Georges worked hard to make a lot of things for UFC. It makes no sense, Dana White holding Georges St-Pierre. I have my personal opinion about Dana, and I’m not anymore in UFC. I don’t like to talk about UFC because everything I do inside UFC is done for me. I do my best, I put in my heart in the company but now it’s a page in my life that’s done.”