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Oscar De La Hoya ending retirement for a "real fight" against "any top guy"
Image: Oscar De La Hoya on Instagram
Oscar De La Hoya is ending his retirement.
The 47-year-old has not fought since he lost to Manny Pacquiao in 2008. Since then, he has been running Golden Boy Promotion where he promotes the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia.
He says he misses fighting so he will return for a real fight, not an exhibition bout which Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. are doing.
"It's a real fight," De La Hoya said to ESPN. "I miss being in the ring, I love boxing. Boxing is what gave me everything I have today, and I just miss it."
Although De La Hoya has not fought since 2008 he knows he still is in good shape. He believes the time off has helped his health and actually believes his jab is better now then it was before.
"Look, it's been a long time, yes," Oscar De La Hoya said. "But actually my jab feels faster than ever. I have to make sure that my conditioning is perfect, my health is good. And that's going to take place in the next few weeks. So we'll see."
Part of the reason why De La Hoya wants to return is the fact he doesn't like the current landscape of boxing. He believes fighters are no longer training as hard. Instead, the boxers are just in it for the money.
"All these fighters are not of the level that was 15, 20 years [ago], all these fighters are demanding so much money, all these fighters are demanding the moon," said De La Hoya. "And they're forgetting that you must train hard, you must work hard. So that's a huge advantage for me because I know what it takes to train hard, I know how to train smart. I know how to fight smart in the ring.
"These guys are in it just for the money — that'll be the big difference," he added. "I will fight for the glory, and these guys only fight for the money. And guess what? The glory will always win."
When Oscar De La Hoya will make his return is to be seen. But, he plans on fighting between 154 and 160 pounds and wants a top guy for his comeback fight.
"Any top guy, any top guy out there," De La Hoya concluded.
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