The last few months have been abuzz with talks of a fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, especially now after confirmation that McGregor has signed the deal for a fight. But it seems not everyone is looking forward to this high-profile match. Oscar De La Hoya has posted an open, rather eloquent letter to boxing fans, urging them to boycott the potential fight.

“To my fellow #boxing fans: I write in the hopes that together we can protect the sport of boxing. 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,” he wrote.

To my fellow #boxing fans: I write in the hopes that together we can protect the sport of boxing. With each passing…

Posted by Oscar De La Hoya on Thursday, 25 May 2017

“[…] 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.”

The open letter, posted to De la Hoya’s Facebook then shared on his Twitter, goes on to criticise Mayweather and McGregor for having money as their only motivation for the potential fight (both fighters stand to make multimillions from the deal). The letter ended with De La Hoya encouraging fans to take a stand and make “it clear that we won’t pay to see a joke of a fight” as a way to “shut the circus down”.

If the McGregor vs Mayweather fight does happen, it would very likely steal the spotlight from the year’s biggest fight between the current stars of the ring Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, to carry out in September.

The Golovkin vs Alvarez fight is incidentally being promoted by De La Hoya’s company Golden Boy, leading some to speculate that De La Hoya is salty that all the attention is turned away from his ring.