Conor McGregor responds to “challenge” from Oscar De La Hoya

Conor McGregor was recently called out 47-year-old former boxing champ Oscar De La. Now, the Irishman has responded.

De La Hoya discussed a potential boxing match with McGregor during an appearance on CBS Sports’ State of Combat podcast. 

The Golden Boy Promotions boss was asked for a prediction as to how a boxing match with McGregor would go, and he oozed confidence.

“Two rounds. Come on, brother. Two rounds!” De La Hoya said (transcript via MMA Mania). “Because one thing about me, I went for the kill always. And look, Conor McGregor, I love him in the Octagon, I respect him, I watch him all the time. But the boxing ring is a whole different story. A whole different story.”

McGregor seems to have taken this as a challenge, and responded on Twitter.

I accept your challenge, Oscar de la Hoya.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 7, 2020

“I accept your challenge, Oscar de la Hoya,” McGregor wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Conor McGregor has not fought since he took on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone back in January. McGregor won his fight with Cerrone by first-round TKO. It took him just 40 seconds to seal the deal with a series of shoulder strikes, a head kick, and a volley of ground strikes.

Prior to his win over Cerrone, McGregor had not tasted victory since all the way back in November of 2016, when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division UFC champion. After his win over Alvarez, he came up short in a blockbuster boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, then tapped out to undefeated UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.

Oscar De La Hoya, on the other hand, has not fought since a 2008 loss to Manny Pacquiao.

What do you think of McGregor’s response to De La Hoya? Do you think he’s joking?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/7/2020.