Oscar De La Hoya Says He’s Re-Retired

With a new year underway for his Golden Boy Promotions, Hall of Fame fighter Oscar De La Hoya says he’s over the idea of getting back between the ropes for legend bouts, himself.

De La Hoya spoke with Manouk Akopyan of Boxingscene.com and made clear that while he was in training for over a year to eventually get back in the ring, at least for now, that urge is over and he’ll leave the fighting to others, again,

De La Hoya Halts Comeback Fight: I'm Hanging Up The Gloves For Sure, Calling it a Day https://t.co/hSxL3glDQs pic.twitter.com/R3NhJhxByh

— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) February 23, 2022

“I can’t imagine myself in the ring anymore. I’m hanging up the gloves for sure and calling it a day,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com

“It’s not likely [I will fight again]. I’m not feeling it. I went through so much in training. I was on it. When I trained, I left everything and my focus was 100%. It just drained me. I couldn’t handle it. Once I got COVID, I still have problems breathing when I’m running.”

As we wrote previously, De La Hoya, who just turned 49 this month, has been contemplating some version of a comeback since the Summer of 2020. This despite having not fought, exhibition or otherwise, since Manny Pacquiao defeated him in 2008. The multi-division world champion was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.

De La Hoya signed to fight former MMA champ Vitor Belfort in a scheduled eight round bout for the Summer of 2021. However, he had to withdraw just 10 days before it, due to contracting Covid 19.

De La Hoya vowed to get back in the ring against someone in a return, but as he commented above, he’s still not be the same while trying to train and stay in shape.

Further, his Golden Boy Promotions is back staging fight cards, including top Middleweight contender Jaime Munguia fighting in front of nearly 20,000 in Tiajuana, Mexico last Saturday night. De La Hoya also has unbeaten Welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz and unbeaten Lightweight Ryan Garcia headlining for Golden Boy later in the year.

And, there’s also De La Hoya’s new romance with former Golf Channel and Fox Sports host, Holly Sonders. The two have been dating since last year and De La Hoya made very public a Valentines Day automobile gift to Sonders,

Oscar De La Hoya got Holly Sonders a Ferrari for Valentine's Day https://t.co/rLSm1guwcm pic.twitter.com/paZRGKiFIR

— New York Post (@nypost) February 17, 2022

“I feel complete now. I have six projects aside from boxing that I’m working on right now that are huge – mega. I’ve refocused,” De La Hoya continued to Boxingscene.  “I have the energy. I have a woman by my side who makes me feel like King Kong,” said De La Hoya. “It’s motivating. It really is. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with Golden Boy and my personal brand. Things are moving in the right direction. I’m really excited about it.”

And De La Hoya says, again for now, that won’t include fighting, again.