FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Oscar De La Hoya Calls Out Floyd Mayweather, Says He'll Offer Him $100M for Fight

Tim Daniels

Former six-division boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya has challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. to a fight later this year with a potential nine-figure payday.

De La Hoya, who pulled out of a recent exhibition against MMA fighter Vitor Belfort because of COVID-19, told TMZ Sports in an interview released Tuesday he's recovered from the coronavirus, which he described as "five days of hell," and has resumed thoughts of a boxing comeback.

"You know who I'm gonna call out for my next fight? Floyd Mayweather," he told TMZ. "... I'll offer Floyd Mayweather $100 million."

Mayweather previously defeated De La Hoya by split decision in May 2007 to win the WBC light middleweight title. De La Hoya's last fight before retirement came the following year in a December 2008 loss to Manny Pacquiao.

The 48-year-old California native told DAZN's Chris Mannix in March that "Mike Tyson inspired the hell out of me" when he made a comeback for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. last November at age 54.

"I've been training for quite a while now, and I actually sparred the other day, and I didn't know I was that good?" De La Hoya said at the time. "I forgot how good I was. There's something there, I want to keep sparring, keep training. I want to see how my body holds up."

The Golden Boy added: "We all know that a Mayweather fight would be massive."

Meanwhile, Mayweather's most recent official fight came against UFC superstar Conor McGregor in August 2017. He won by 10th-round knockout to push his career record to 50-0.

He's since shifted his focus to lucrative exhibitions, having taken on Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in December 2018 and YouTube star Logan Paul in June.

Mayweather, 44, told Lance Pugmire of The Athletic before the Paul bout his days of putting together long training camps for official fights were likely over.

"There's no more real fights for me," he said. "Only exhibitions."

It's unclear whether Mayweather is interested in a rematch with De La Hoya and whether it'd be contested as a sanctioned fight or an exhibition.

   

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