Oscar De La Hoya is glad his proposed return to the boxing ring got derailed.
In 2021, De La Hoya was set to end his retirement from professional boxing for a bout against Vitor Belfort under the Triller Fight Club promotion. He was forced to withdraw from the fight after contracting COVID a week prior. Apparently, his bout with the virus proved difficult in its own right. But even so, the boxing Hall of Famer says it may have been better for him in the long run.
“[My bout with COVID] was actually bad – it was really, really bad,” De La Hoya told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “It was very unfortunate, because I was in great shape. I was in great shape, but I have admit, I was lying to myself.
“When I was sparring, I was getting hit a lot. So it was kind of like, I was being stubborn. I was in great shape, my reflexes — the videos that I posted, they were legit — they were fast, I felt my reflexes were incredible, but when I was sparring, I was getting hit too much.”
When De La Hoya withdrew from the bout, former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield stepped in on short notice to replace him against Belfort. That bout was changed from an official boxing match to an exhibition, but Belfort still knocked out Holyfield all the same, finishing the fight in the first round.
Given the problems he faced in the build up to the fight and the difference in size between Holyfield and De La Hoya, De La Hoya believes he was lucky not to face Belfort.
” “Everything happens for reasons,” De La Hoya stated. It didn’t happen, unfortunately. But, I am glad that I did not fight the monster fighter. He’s big, knows his stuff, and is talented. As old as we were, we still can throw punches. It was with Evander Holyfield. He knocked him unconscious, so we saw that I could still throw punches.”
And De La Hoya claims it’s his last chance to avoid being hit by another bullet. Realizing what a bad idea it was in the first place, “The Golden Boy” has no further plans of returning to the squared circle.
“No, no, no – I’m done,” he said. “Like I said, everything happens for a reason and I’m actually glad I didn’t come back. My ego took a bit out of me as fighter because the ring is where I feel safe. The ring is everything for me. There, nobody can touch me. I feel safe. It was my mental desire to be in the ring and train and experience the adrenaline that it brought, that took me over mentally. My mind believed I could do this. That’s the biggest challenge for fighters, because your body doesn’t respond to your thoughts.
“It’s a love-hate relationship that I have with boxing, but everything happens for a reason. I got COVID really bad, I’m glad I survived it, and here we are.
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