By Sean Jones: Gennadiy Golovkin says he’d be a “nightmare” for Oscar Dela Hoya if he comes out of retirement and chooses to face him in his comeback.
The 47-year-old former six-division world champion De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) said recently that Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) would be an “easy” fight for him when he returns to the ring in 2021, and he’s one of the fighters that he has on his list.
De La Hoya doesn’t want to take any warm-up fights when he returns to the ring next year. He wants to go straight to the top, and he seems to think IBF middleweight champion Golovkin would be an ideal opponent.
GGG sends “dirty mouth” De La Hoya a message
Golovkin, 38, was hoping to fight Canelo Alvarez in 2021, but De La Hoya might be the better option for him. The money that GGG can make facing De La Hoya in a celebrity-type match would be huge, and likely better than what he’d make against Alvarez.
Golovkin is currently getting ready for his title defense this Friday night against Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida.
“You know Oscar, you know how dirty his mouth is,” Golovkin said to AFP when asked about his thoughts on De La Hoya showing interest in fighting him.
“Everything involving Gennady Golovkin for him is a nightmare,” GGG continued. “He can say whatever. But let me put it this way – If I got an opportunity to legally kill a person in the ring, I might seize it.”
Wow, Golovkin is showing a side of his personality that he’s never displayed before. I guess he doesn’t like how De La Hoya is making him sound like an easy mark with his comeback talk.
De La Hoya could have chosen anyone in boxing to slam, but he targeted GGG, who a lot of fans think is starting to slip. Maybe De La Hoya sees weakness in Golovkin that he can exploit with his boxing skills, even at 47.
There’s little question that a prime De La Hoya would give Golovkin a lot of problems, but Oscar left his best years behind him 15 to 17 years ago.
Oscar last fought in 2008
De La Hoya last fought in 2008 against Manny Pacquiao, and he was completely shot at that point in his career. The last time De La Hoya looked great was in 2002 against Fernando Vargas and 2003 against Luis Ramon Campas.
In De La Hoya’s only two fights in the 160-pound weight class against Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins, he looked poor. Hopkins stopped De La Hoya with a body shot in the ninth round in September 2004.
In De La Hoya’s fight against former WO middleweight champion Sturm, he took a beating from the German fighter but was given a controversial 12-round unanimous decision in June 2004.