Upcoming Match-ups

Odds on Who Oscar De La Hoya Will Fight Next – Sergio Martinez Favored, Dana White Listed at 80-1

Dylan Bowker

by Dylan Bowker in Boxing

Updated Mar 11, 2021 · 1:54 PM PST

Oscar De la Hoya is making a return to the ring at 45 years of age. Who will the legendary boxer fight in his comeback?
  • Odds on Who Oscar De La Hoya in his return to the ring have been released
  • Conor McGregor, Sergio Martinez and Manny Pacquiao are among potential opponents
  • Check out the odds, analysis, and prediction below

Former prolific world champion and present-day promoter Oscar De La Hoya has proclaimed his aim to return to the ring. De La Hoya last competed in December of 2008, in a losing effort to Manny Pacquiao via eighth round stoppage.

To that point some are theorizing, oddsmakers included, that De La Hoya’s return opponent will be Pacquiao – but I don’t forsee The Golden Boy getting his redemptive moment against Manny.

If not Pacquiao though, who will be his first fight back?

Odds on Oscar De La Hoya’s Next Opponent

Fighter Odds
Sergio Martinez +500
Garry O’Sullivan +700
Canelo Alvarez +1000
Miguel Cotto +1000
Conor McGregor +1200
Amir Khan +1600
GGG +2500
Manny Pacquiao +5000
Dana White +8000

Odds taken August 27th

De La Hoya’s Ambitious Comeback Plans

The key difference with Oscar De La Hoya’s comeback plan, as compared to some recent comeback announcements, is the level of competition that The Golden Boy is looking to fight.

While several legends are mapping out returns for exhibition bouts against some of their peers from yesteryear, De La Hoya wants to take on today’s champions.

YouTube video

In a quote to ESPN, De La Hoya said, “These fighters are not of the level that was 15/20 years [ago]… I will fight for glory, these guys only fight for money. And guess what? The glory will always win.”

Whether you want to see this as ambitious or foolish is on you but regardless, I don’t see De La Hoya jumping right back into it with some of the modern guys on the list. This eliminates Canelo, Cotto, Khan, and O’Sullivan for me.

Conor McGregor, GGG, & Dana White?

The fact that UFC figurehead Dana White even made the list here might seem entirely ridiculous to people that don’t avidly follow combat sports. The reasoning for his inclusion is largely centered around the years-long public beef that the two are still presently engaging in.

The lines for McGregor and GGG are also rooted in social media beefing as well as media scrum bantering. De La Hoya has talked for years, even before discussions of his comeback became more serious, about fighting Gennady Golovkin.

That always struck me as something that was more rooted in a former champ showcasing his bravado than anything that would ever come to fruition in the ring.

De La Hoya has come out in several interviews indicating that he thinks McGregor is an easy pay day in the boxing ring. Even going so far as to say that he could finish the former multi-division UFC champ inside of two rounds. Despite McGregor engaging in the social media bantering a bit, I do not see this fight going down.

Why Is Sergio Martinez the Favorite?

Martinez recently embarked on his own comeback and won via seventh-round knockout. The 45-year-old Martinez returned after a six-year hiatus to best Jose Miguel Fandino on August 21st.

All factors considered, boxing pundits and fans alike are saying that De La Hoya vs Martinez is a fight that makes a ton of sense. Martinez is favored for a reason and I see him as the best bet for De La Hoya’s return opponent.

The two were amid different career trajectories when they were actively fighting. It would not have made sense when the two were in their respective primes to have fought which is why the two never locked horns in the ring. The time to strike on making Sergio Martinez vs Oscar De La Hoya would be right now.

Author Image