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De La Hoya: Boxing 'might not ever recover' from McGregor-Mayweather

Lee Smith / Action Images

A long discussed superfight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather has itself a staunch detractor in Oscar De La Hoya.

On Thursday, the boxer-turned-promoter issued fight fans an open letter regarding the crossover bout, one that's gone from a pure clash of egos to a blockbuster in the making over the past few months. A former six-division world champion, De La Hoya didn't mince words regarding his stance, fearing the long-term damage a fight pitting a decorated pugilist against the inexperienced McGregor might inflict on the sport to which he's given 25 years of his life.

"To my fellow boxing fans, I write in the hopes that together we can protect the sport of boxing," De La Hoya wrote, according to ESPN's Dan Rafael. "With each passing day, it looks more and more likely that the circus known as Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor will be coming to town in the near future. As undercard fights start to take form, athletic commissions give their blessings in exchange for millions of dollars, and the fighters start counting even more cash, one group will eventually be left to make sure this farce doesn't occur - we, the fans, who are the lifeblood of our sport."

De La Hoya continued:

But if you thought Mayweather/Pacquiao was a black eye for our sport - a matchup between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters that simply didn't deliver - just wait until the best boxer of a generation dismantles someone who has never boxed competitively at any level - amateur or professional. Our sport might not ever recover.

The 44-year-old is in the midst of piecing together a megafight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, but maintained his condemnation of McGregor's boxing debut had nothing to do with a fear the Irishman and Mayweather will put a dent in his revenue stream. In fact, if Mayweather ended his retirement to take on a legitimate contender, De La Hoya insisted he'd pony up to see it.

Now, I know critics will say that I'm only writing this letter because my company is promoting what will be the culmination of an outstanding boxing year when Canelo Alvarez takes on Gennady "GGG" Golovkin in September, and I don't want anything to distract attention away from that fight. But my interest is in the health of boxing as a whole. It always has been. And if Floyd were to come out of retirement to take on someone like Keith "One Time" Thurman, Errol Spence or some other top welterweight, not only would I applaud the fight, I'd be the first one on line for a ticket. That kind of fight is what the fans - and I am a fan first - deserve. Which brings me back to the circus.

But what irked De La Hoya the most about the increasingly likely fight was the involved parties' motives for setting it in motion. The way "The Golden Boy" sees it, Mayweather vs. McGregor is nothing more than a shameless money grab that will leave each fighter with enough cabbage to rest on their laurels while the sport of boxing continues to flounder.

Floyd's and Conor's motivation is clear. It's money. In fact, they don't even pretend it's not. But it's also a lack of consequences for when the fight ends up being the disaster that is predicted. After this fight, neither of them will need us anymore. Floyd will go back to retirement - presumably for good this time with another nine-figure paycheck - and Conor will go back to the UFC. It's a win-win for them. It's a lose-lose for us. We'll be $100 lighter and we will have squandered another opportunity to bring boxing back to its rightful place as the sport of kings. At this point, only we can shut the circus down by making it clear that we won't pay to see a joke of a fight and telling our casual-fan friends that they shouldn't either.

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