De La Hoya: Conor McGregor vs. Canelo Would Be Guaranteed Knockout

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor raised the eyebrows of MMA fans and media last week when news arrived he had applied for and obtained a California boxing license.

Many thought it was merely a stunt used to draw publicity to ‘The Notorious’ while he takes a hiatus from actually fighting to welcome his first child into the world. The shadow of his long–rumored boxing match with lgendary champion Floyd Mayweather is still floating, but Mayeather’s camp and UFC President Dana White were both quick to squash that rumor by noting McGregor is under contract with the UFC.

However, there’s little doubt that any boxing match involving McGregor would be big business, and it looks like another boxing giant wants in on a piece of that pie. Speaking to FightHubTV (via Bloody Elbow) recently, fellow boxing great and current head man of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya teased a potential boxing bout involving McGregor and his current golden boy, Canelo Alvarez:

“If Conor is serious about fighting – first of all, would love to talk to him, and promote him. I mean, imagine Conor McGregor and Golden Boy coming together. But the only fight I would like to see, and this is the one that makes the most sense, it would be the most exciting, that would be a guaranteed knockout, is against Canelo Alvarez. And they’re in the same weight class. So it makes all the sense in the world. Imagine. 154. 160. It would be at 160 actually.”

Alvarez may be the outside name in boxing outside of Gennady Golovkin right now, and a bout between the two is often discussed but appears to have only a sliver of a chance of actually happening.

It’s probably more than McGregor vs. Mayweather regardless, and with MMA quickly eclipsing boxing as the most talked-about combat sport, it’s hardly a surprise to see De La Hoya getting in the mix with McGregor’s name on his list of targets.

If it were to happen, though, McGregor vs. Canelo would be a site to behold. Do you agree with De La Hoya’s opinion it would end in a knockout?