Georges St-Pierre appears to have lost interest in competing in the Octagon again, but it seems he was ready to come out of retirement to fight an aging Oscar De La Hoya in a boxing match recently.
Unfortunately for him, he’s still under contract with the UFC and Dana White quickly shut down the former welterweight and middleweight champion’s plan to fight the boxing legend.
“I understand that Dana didn’t want me to fight,” St-Pierre told 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. So it would have been for a good cause, just to show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
“And it would have been serious competition because you say, I play basketball, I play hockey, but you don’t ‘play’ fighting. It would have been fun.”
As for how the fight would have went if it had been given the green light, St-Pierre, who has previously honed his boxing skills with Freddie Roach, thinks he could have given a good account of himself, particularly due to the fact that De La Hoya is 48 and has been in retirement for well over a decade.
“I don’t have the audacity to pretend that I’m better boxer that 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,” St-Pierre said. “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.”
