De La Hoya actively sparring, planning return
While this is far from the first time that he’s done it, Golden Boy Promotions founder and former six division world champion Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya (39-3, 30 KO’s) has threatened to return to the ring. The 47-year-old fighter turned businessman and promoter is convinced that he still has enough left in the tank to shake up the boxing world.
In a recent interview conducted on Sport Illustrated’s Boxing podcast, the Golden Boy revealed how there is real substance to these latest talks. Beyond merely bumping his gums about staging a comeback, De La Hoya explained how he has gathered a small team around himself and is actively training to build up his endurance to last for a twelve round bout.
BACK ON THE GRIND
The Golden Boy assured that if he came back, it would be to take on the best competition available. This should surprise no one; as an active fighter De La Hoya, made it his business to challenge the fiercest competitors around.
“I’ve actually been training now for a couple of months and I am up to about six rounds of heavy sparring. I want to get to about twelve rounds to see how I feel. But Chris, obviously you know how my body can change from one night to another.”
“I could get an injury, I could tear a muscle. You never know, but right now, at this point, I have been running six miles every single day, I feel good…until I get to those twelves rounds in spar I can’t give you a definitive answer on how I am going to feel and if I can come back.”
“…By September I am hoping to spar twelve rounds on a regular basis and by that time I do want to make that decision of fighting in the first quarter of next year.”
STRAIGHT TO THE TOP
Provided that all goes well, Oscar De La Hoya has targeted a specific division. He even has an ideal trainer in mind as well.
“I would actually come back in a real fight. Everyone who knows me knows that I just go for the best right from the top. And so I remember taking I think it was close to three years when I fought [Ricardo] Mayorga in a comeback fight. So there is no tune up fights for me, there is no feeling out process. I want to go to whoever is the best out there.”
“…I strongly feel that if I come down to 154, which I can and I know I can, I can do something. I can so some damage to a few fighters out there.
[when questioned on who he’d like as a trainer] “The only person that I would ask, humbly, would be Floyd Mayweather Sr. Floyd Mayweather Sr is the only trainer that can tell me to wake up at 5 in the morning. He is the only trainer that can push my buttons and make me work hard and smart. So I would actually go to him and humbly ask him if he could do this favor for me.”
THE WAITING GAME
Naturally, the odds are stacked against De La Hoya going through with this comeback. Nevertheless, it definitely would be a big deal if the Golden Boy did return to the ring against one of the junior middleweight elite fighters with Mayweather Sr in his corner! Let’s see how this one plays out.
By: Bakari Simpson
