Georges St-Pierre confirms Dana White nixed potential boxing match against Oscar De La Hoya with Triller
Georges St-Pierre may be done with mixed martial arts but the opportunity to square off with a legend in the boxing ring had him ready to return to action.
Just recently, Triller CEO Ryan Kavanaugh blasted UFC president Dana White on Instagram for nixing a potential boxing match between St-Pierre and Oscar De La Hoya, who is coming out of retirement after last competing in 2008.
White never directly addressed the St-Pierre vs. De La Hoya fight but he ripped the social media company calling them a “f*cking joke” while telling Kavanaugh to “stop texting me, stop calling me, stop f*cking asking the media to ask me things, OK? Beat it. Get lost.”
Now St-Pierre has directly addressed the rumors while confirming that he was in talks for a boxing match against De La Hoya but with an exclusive contract still remaining with the UFC, he had to get permission in order to take the fight. Unfortunately, it appears White nixed those plans and would not allow St-Pierre to fight for a rival promotion.
“I understand that Dana didn’t want me to fight,” St-Pierre said when speaking to Cinema Blend. “However, it would have been fun. Because my career as a professional fighter, to become the best in the world in mixed martial arts, is done. I’m turning 40 years old tomorrow; I’m going to be 40 years old. It’s a young man’s game. However, to rather fight a boxing match under the rules that Triller put on against the legendary Oscar De La Hoya? For me, it would have been a dream come true, because he is my second favorite boxer of all time, behind ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard.
“Plus, a lot of the money made would have been given to charity. So it would have been for a good cause, just to show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. And it would have been serious competition because you say, I play basketball, I play hockey, but you don’t ‘play’ fighting. It would have been fun.”
Kavanaugh has continued to hammer away at White on social media while promising to donate $250,000 to the charity of his choice in order to sign off on St-Pierre crossing over for the boxing match with De La Hoya.
“If we are a “joke” and you don’t give a sh*t, than approve GSP to fight,” Kavanaugh wrote. “We will donate $250,000 to a charity of your choice if you approve the fight, as the deal is ready to close pending ONLY your approval.”
St-Pierre last competed in the UFC in 2017 when he won the middleweight title with a third-round submission against Michael Bisping. He later vacated the title and ultimately made the decision to retire from the sport in 2019.
Since that time, the former UFC welterweight champion has teased a possible comeback for a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov but that matchup never came together. By all accounts, St-Pierre’s career with the UFC is definitely done but he was excited for the opportunity to test himself against De La Hoya if his former promotion would have allowed him to compete.
“I don’t have the audacity to pretend that I’m better boxer that Oscar De La Hoya was because, when he was in his prime, he’s one of the best that’s ever done it and I come from a different sport,” St-Pierre said. “But, take it now because of where we are in our lives.
“I think it would have been a good matchup between him and I because he’s older than me. Yeah, of course he has a lot more experience than me in boxing. But I’m younger, I’m a little bit bigger. So I think it would’ve made it a pretty even matchup. It could have been fun.”
Obviously, Triller is still pushing for the fight to happen but judging by White’s comments, he has no interest in dealing with the company in any capacity much less giving St-Pierre permission to fight there.
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