47-year-old De La Hoya ending retirement to fight ‘top guy’

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Oscar De La Hoya is looking for a comeback. Oscar De La Hoya, now 47-years-old, is planning to fight again 12 years after his retiring from the sport. Unlike Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. though, th…

American Century Championship - Round One

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Oscar De La Hoya is looking for a comeback.

Oscar De La Hoya, now 47-years-old, is planning to fight again 12 years after his retiring from the sport. Unlike Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. though, the current boxing promoter says he won’t be returning for an exhibition fight against a fellow retired legend.

“The rumors are true, and I’m going to start sparring in the next few weeks,” De La Hoya told ESPN. “It’s a real fight. I miss being in the ring, I love boxing. Boxing is what gave me everything I have today, and I just miss it.

“Look, it’s been a long time, yes,” he 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.”

De La Hoya says he’s not only returning for an actual professional fight, he wants to return at around 154-160 lbs to face an actual top fighter.

“Any top guy, any top guy out there,” said De La Hoya.

“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. I will fight for the glory, and these guys only fight for the money. And guess what? The glory will always win.”

De La Hoya last stepped in the ring in 2008 when he was dominated and stopped by Manny Pacquiao. He has losses in four of his last seven bouts dating back to 2003, and went on to be one of the most successful boxing promoters after his fighting career.

The fighter turned promoter battled alcohol and substance addiction in the years after his retirement. He was also named in multiple lawsuits alleging various sexual assault incidents through the years.