Not even a week ago, 42-year-old Oscar De La Hoya said he would never come back. The former six-division world champion can’t seem to make up his mind.
De La Hoya told ESPN’s Dan Rafael on Tuesday that he’s now “very serious” about making a comeback at the age of 42, more than 78 months since his last fight against Manny Pacquiao, which ended in an eighth-round TKO defeat.
“It’s got to be worth my while, but this is very serious,” De La Hoya told Rafael. “I have to make sure I am fighting the very best. I don’t have to come back for financial reasons or the lights or the glamour. The only reason I would come back is because I miss the competition of fighting the very best.”
When De La Hoya was asked to go further into depth about his comeback plans, two names came to mind, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Gennady Golovkin.
De La Hoya became the first fighter in boxing history to beat Mayweather on any official scorecard despite taking a split decision loss back in 2007, which at the time was the most lucrative boxing match in history, setting a record of more than $120 million in pay-per-view revenue.
That was overshadowed by Mayweather-Pacquiao this past May, with more than $410 million in domestic PPV revenue.
“I want to fight one of them because they are the best, and I always fought the best,” De La Hoya told ESPN.
“That’s what boxing is all about – fighting the best. I think my two front-runners are Floyd and GGG.”
Tha Boxing Voice previously reported that Kel Dansby of Black Sports Online posted a video on Instagram a week ago of Mayweather stating that he would be willing to give De La Hoya a rematch in September.
“I seen a little thing with Oscar, saying he’s coming back. If he wants to, we can rock and roll in September. We can do it at 154. He already knows that. He said he wanted. So if he wants it, we can do it in September. He already knows how I operate,” Mayweather said.
I can think of another famous fighter who came back into the ring after a six-year retirement. In fact, he was one of the best in ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard.
Unfortunately for Leonard, he was stopped by Hector Camacho inside the fifth round and retired again.
However, De La Hoya has an opportunity to get this right. Keep in mind, Leonard lost his last fight before Camacho as well – he lost a unanimous decision to Terry Norris – and the last thing the ‘Golden Boy’ needs is another pitiful performance.
He could stay retired, which is a pretty good idea, or if he’s that serious about a comeback, at least take a tune-up fight before jumping right back into the lion’s den again.
De La Hoya also told Rafael that he’s in great physical condition, has no pain, and is regularly training .
“I’ve got everything taken care of – my rotator cuffs – my left hand, everything. I’m pain-free. I just feel good, and when I walk the streets, everyone tells me, ‘You have to fight Floyd again, you have to fight GGG. You can do it, you can do it.
“I’m not preparing for an actual fight, but I run eight miles, I can hit the bag for 12 rounds, I can jump rope and do the speed bag. I do all that on a regular basis to stay in shape.
“I look great, too. I’ve never seen myself look like this. 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.”
We’ve heard this same type of buildup, hype, you name it for the past four years – it still hasn’t happened – and I don’t expect it to happen.
De La Hoya is done. After Mike Tyson retired, he gained a ton of weight, then got back into shape – he’s still in good shape, is anyone out there asking for Tyson to come back and fight Wilder or Povetkin. No. Why? Because it’s insane.
Brett Favre playing for as long as he did was insane. He waited until he was getting tossed around like a chihuahua in the middle of a tornado before he finally got the message, ‘Hey man, it’s time to hang it up, you’re too old.’
De La Hoya already got hit by a typhoon if you get my drift; please stop this insanity.
