Oscar De La Hoya Says He's Training for Boxing Comeback, Talks Canelo Alvarez

More than 11 years after retiring from in-ring competition, Oscar De La Hoya is training his body for the possibility of having another match. 

Appearing on the SI Boxing Podcast with Chris Mannix, De La Hoya explained the process of putting himself through the daily training rigor in order to compete again:

"I think it's just a matter of pulling the trigger of making that decision to go to the gym, to wake up in the morning, to make the sacrifice. Before I wanted to do it, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't pull the trigger. I couldn't wake up in the morning. I couldn't take myself to the gym and spar six rounds. Now it's like I have this motivation to do it for myself, to prove to myself that I can do it. And so we'll see what happens."

De La Hoya's comments about a comeback come as Golden Boy Promotions prepares to run shows for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, starting on July 24. 

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, the biggest active star under the Golden Boy umbrella, hasn't fought since last November, but De La Hoya told Mannix he's hoping to finalize an opponent for the middleweight champion as soon as next week. 

On his potential return, De La Hoya said he "can do some damage" in the 154-pound weight class. 

“My power, you never lose power," he said. "Maybe my timing might be off a little, but that's something that I'm going to have to figure out. So there's a lot that comes into play. And I just strongly feel that I can do it.”

Mannix noted that De Le Hoya made it clear he doesn't want to come back for a one-off exhibition bout and wouldn't be interested in a tune-up match. 

De La Hoya, 47, announced his retirement in April 2009, five months after he lost to Manny Pacquiao when his corner called for a stoppage between the eighth and ninth rounds. He lost four of his final seven matches after a 36-2 record to start his career.