- Georges St-Pierre said Dana White and his UFC contract were the reasons his boxing match with Oscar De La Hoya didn’t happen
- GSP thought he could’ve beaten “The Golden Boy” at the time
Georges St-Pierre still vividly recalls how UFC president Dana White refused to let him do a boxing match with Oscar De La Hoya.
The boss said NO
Speaking on Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, “Rush” delved into the details why his then-much-awaited boxing match with “The Golden Boy” did not materialize. According to GSP, White was adamant that there was no way it’s happening because the UFC boss hates De La Hoya.
St-Pierre added that the conflict with his UFC contract at the time also made it impossible to happen.
“It didn’t happen because Dana White told me, ‘No,’”St-Pierre said. “Dana White hates Oscar De La Hoya and my contract with the UFC, after you retire you still have a few years. Depending on the contract. But my contract, the way it was made I still had ties with the UFC up to, I’m not going to say the number of years because I don’t want to be inaccurate. But I still had ties with the UFC.”
“Dana when I asked for the permission, well I can’t say it the way he said it to me. But he said ‘F that guy, F that guy, blah blah blah, no, F that guy’,” he continued.
.@danawhite Quit blocking@GeorgesStPierre’s chance to fight. How about we get into the ring first little B*#ch then after I kick your ass, I’ll fight a real man #DeLaHoyaGSP #LetGSPFight pic.twitter.com/sPKeXpHDDW
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) May 21, 2021
GSP thinks he could’ve beaten Oscar
The St-Pierre vs. De La Hoya bout was supposed to happen in 2021. At the time, GSP was confident he could torch De La Hoya, who is 10 years older than him.
“Oscar is almost 10 years older than me,” St-Pierre explained. “I don’t have the audacity of saying that I’m a better boxer than Oscar in his prime. No way, Oscar was one of the best of all time. Oscar in his prime would have beat me in boxing like easily. But because I’m younger than him and I think I have less mileage than he does, I think it would make a fair fight and I think I would have beat him in boxing.”
As it stands, De La Hoya is already 51 years old and it appears like he doesn’t plan to make a boxing return anytime soon. On the other hand, St-Pierre was set for a grappling match with Nick Diaz last year but it also did not come to fruition.
Watch St-Pierre’s full podcast talk below:
