{"id":8859,"date":"2011-03-21T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T04:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=8859"},"modified":"2011-03-20T19:28:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-20T23:28:52","slug":"oscar-de-la-hoya-the-boxing-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=8859","title":{"rendered":"Oscar De La Hoya: The Boxing Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Gina L. Caliboso<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tweet this \u2013 Oscar De La Hoya comes out of retirement. Facebook Like this \u2013 Oscar De La Hoya Makes a Comeback. Yahoo Sports Headline \u2013 Oscar De La Hoya versus who? The Golden Boy Returns to the Ring. The Ring Magazine – Oscar De La Hoya, Owner of our Magazine – versus who? Should Oscar De La Hoya come out of retirement, it would perhaps be Tweeted, Facebooked and finally, TMZ\u2019d \u2013 meaning that it must be true. But hold on boxing fans, would a Golden Boy comeback be welcomed or reviled? Given that boxing is currently suffering a case of bad PR, I considered what exactly would happen should De La Hoya return to the ring and more importantly, would boxing gain or at least be revitalized by his comeback? So, come along with me boxing fans, and let\u2019s examine my version of \u201cwhat if Oscar De La Hoya came out of retirement?\u201d<\/p>\n

If Oscar De La Hoya came out of retirement, it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise. I don\u2019t think De La Hoya ended his career on his own terms, only because there is still some spark and fight to his eyes when he sits ringside. De La Hoya, the former boxer now promoter, sits ringside and is as concentrated on one of his client\u2019s fights as he was when he came into the ring. Good looks aside, De La Hoya just always had it in his eyes.
\nBut notice the verb tenses \u2013 was, had \u2013 as far as comebacks are concerned, we as sports fans, always recall the athlete in his prime as he makes a return to the sport he had quietly walked away from. De La Hoya falls under this same category. He absolutely ruled in the 1990\u2019s. His memorable bouts against talented fighters such as Oba Carr, Pernell Whitaker, and later against his rival Mosley at welterweight, are still considered to be HBO\u2019s best fights. When he fought at welterweight, he was absolutely unstoppable, and it\u2019s a quality that doesn\u2019t just go away.<\/p>\n

If De La Hoya came out of retirement, the question would be what weight division? Against Whitaker in 1997, he earned the WBC Welterweight title and successfully defended his belt over the course of 2 years, defeating fighters such as Hector Camacho, Julio Cesar Chavez, Ike Quartey, and Oba Carr. He finally lost the title to Felix Trinidad in a 12 round MD and marked the first loss of his career. So, clearly, De La Hoya fought at his best in the welterweight division.<\/p>\n

But, as competitive as the welterweight division was back in the 1990\u2019s, the division now almost two decades later, is just as competitive, as well as any other possibility of De La Hoya moving into the middleweight divisions. Think about it, if De La Hoya decided to fight back in his old weight division, he would, possibly, face the fighters he had lost to \u2013 Pacquiao, Mosley, and Mayweather. In the light middleweight\/middleweight divisions, he would be going up against Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto, even Bernard Hopkins (should he decide to fight at middleweight again). And this is exactly why a what if scenario is always interesting to think about. His own peers are still fighting. Why shouldn\u2019t De La Hoya return to the ring?<\/p>\n

If De La Hoya returned to boxing, who would be in his corner? I guess the question would be who hasn\u2019t been in De La Hoya\u2019s corner? He\u2019s trained with Floyd Mayweather, SR, Freddie Roach, and Nacho Beristain. In the pre-fight hype before his bout with Pacquiao, he also had Angelo Dundee as an advisor. Who else could train him? I\u2019d offer Roberto Garcia, trainer of Antonio Margarito, up and coming Brandon Rios, and Nonito Donaire. New career needs a revamp? I think Roberto Garcia just might be the right match.<\/p>\n

Okay, so we\u2019ve got why De La Hoya should return, we\u2019ve got the weight division covered, and even a potential corner set up. But this is really my favorite part. If Oscar De La Hoya came out of retirement, who would be his potential opponent? But before we explore this, we should think about under what circumstances or arena De La Hoya should make a return. Let\u2019s think about the possibility of a reality show. Everyone is doing it and the Golden Boy is no exception.<\/p>\n

The premise of the reality show would be similar to the ending of Rocky III when Apollo cashes in on his favor with Rocky. Away from the big purses, away from the lights of Vegas, the Golden Boy Makes His Return Reality show would be centered on De La Hoya making a comeback against all of the fighters that defeated him! There would be no money, just a simple bet like dinner, drinks, maybe a round of golf among peers. But in this reality show, De La Hoya would be training for a big fight against Floyd Mayweather, JR maybe?<\/p>\n

I hear Ricky Hatton might make a return to the ring. But on the reality show, he would basically spar with the likes of Mosley, Hopkins, maybe even Pacquiao and settle scores over 3 rounds. It would definitely wipe off some of De La Hoya\u2019s ring rust and perhaps even show that he\u2019s still got a bit left of what he left behind. All hearsay really, but isn\u2019t it fun to just explore the possibility?<\/p>\n

Now, finally, let\u2019s really look at what I\u2019m suggesting. First, if De La Hoya came out of retirement, there really is no guarantee that he would even have the same appeal that he did when he was in his prime. De La Hoya is now a father, a promoter, a community leader, a business man. And to take another Rocky III reference, De La Hoya became \u201ccivilized.\u201d He isn\u2019t the same fighter he was because really, he\u2019s now a different man. Second, as boxing has been losing fans to MMA, would anyone really tune into a De La Hoya boxing bout, or even consider purchasing a fight against Mayweather? Or would the public be more likely to tune into his reality show? And yes, I know he had one called \u201cThe Next Great Champ\u201d but I think the show just was a matter of bad timing. Combat sports are now readily understood by the public. And with the success of the \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter\u201d and even HBO\u2019s 24\/7, MMA fighters and boxers actually make for some great reality television.<\/p>\n

And, I\u2019d watch the reality show to see how a fighter \u2013 on the verge of a comeback \u2013 deals with a different set of priorities \u2013 a rigorous physical training schedule, not to mention a wife, kids, and even corporate responsibilities. Now seriously, comeback training and bout aside, doesn\u2019t that make tuning in to a De La Hoya reality show the least bit interesting? Doesn\u2019t a return to the ring for De La Hoya make some sort of sense? So, with all I\u2019ve suggested, I\u2019d love to see De La Hoya return to the ring or even show up on reality TV somewhere and I wouldn\u2019t have to pay for it either. I\u2019d simply tune in, or at least DVR an episode, and let the return of the Golden Boy unravel.<\/p>\n

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By Gina L. Caliboso Tweet this \u2013 Oscar De La Hoya comes out of retirement. Facebook Like this \u2013 Oscar De La Hoya Makes a Comeback. Yahoo Sports Headline \u2013 Oscar De La Hoya versus who? The Golden Boy Returns to the Ring. The Ring Magazine – Oscar De La Hoya, Owner of our Magazine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[107,152,2977,921,549],"class_list":["post-8859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing-comeback","tag-champion","tag-gbp","tag-golden-boy","tag-oscar-de-la-hoya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8859"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8859\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}