Oscar De La Hoya contemplates comeback against Mayweather or Golovkin

Oscar De La Hoya is feeling really good these days.

The 42-year-old retired boxing great says he hasn’t had a drink “in I don’t know how long,” is pain free after multiple surgeries to fix the various ailments that plagued him during his career, and sticks to a training regimen that has him running eight miles a day and hitting a heavy bag for 12 rounds.

De La Hoya says he feels good enough to return to the ring -- and he just might do that.

“Sometimes that little itch gets me in that certain spot, and when so many people tell me I can do it, it’s trying to convince me that you can,” De La Hoya told ESPN.com on Monday.

“Would I do it? I don’t know but I wake up every morning thinking that I can. I think about Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. If [Leonard] could do it, why can’t I? We both come from similar situations. We are both hungry for the competition, we’re both ambitious. So you never know.”

If he does come back, De La Hoya said, he would do so at no heavier than junior middleweight.

And he’d want to do it against the very best -- either a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who defeated De La Hoya by split decision in 2007, or a bout against middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin, who has been looking to take on a big-name fighter.

“I want to fight one of them because they are the best and I always fought the best,” De La Hoya said. “That’s what boxing is all about -- fighting the best.”

De La Hoya won 10 world titles in six weight divisions during his career but hasn’t fought since getting knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in December 2008.

He hasn’t made any decisions yet regarding a comeback but says he’s “very serious” about the possibility.

“I’m gonna stick to my diet, keep running eight miles, doing my physical therapy and staying in shape,” De La Hoya said. “If I pull the trigger, it’s straight to [training camp in] Big Bear.”

Twitter: @chewkiii