‘If I got an opportunity, I might seize it’: Gennady Golovkin makes deadly threat to Oscar De La Hoya

‘Golden Boy’ claimed he could return to the ring and ‘easily’ defeat the IBF champion

Tom Kershaw
Wednesday 16 December 2020 12:20 GMT
Comments
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez beats Gennady Golovkin to inflict his first defeat in brutal rematch that sets up trilogy bout

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Gennady Golovkin issued a deadly threat to Oscar De La Hoya after the promoter claimed he could come out of retirement and defeat the IBF middleweight world champion. 

De La Hoya, 47, has repeatedly stoked talks of a potential comeback, despite retiring almost 12 years ago, and told Boxing Scene: "You know how easy GGG would be for me? Oh, my gosh. I always took a good shot and I always took apart fighters like him. In my mind it would be that easy."

There has long been animosity between Golovkin and De La Hoya, stemming from the latter’s previous promotional relationship with Canelo Alvarez, and the Kazakh was clearly irked while speaking ahead of his mandatory defence against Kamil Szeremeta.

READ MORE: ‘It’s on fire’: How 2020 became the year of women’s boxing

"You know Oscar, you know how dirty his mouth is," Golovkin told AFP via a translator.

"Everything involving Gennady Golovkin for him is a nightmare. He can say whatever. But let me put it this way - If I got an opportunity to legally kill a person in the ring, I might seize it."

De La Hoya has not fought professionally since a gruesome defeat by Manny Pacquiao in 2008 but insists he is serious about returning to the ring. 

Golovkin, meanwhile, who suffered a first and somewhat controversial defeat in a rematch with Canelo Alvarez in September 2018, played down the chances of a trilogy fight with the Mexican superstar.

"I don't think about this because I'm tired of thinking about it," he said. "It's been over two years that we've been throwing this around. It's not my fault that this fight has not taken place.

"Currently, it's too early to say, but there is a possibility this fight might never happen."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in