So, Oscar De La Hoya's recent tweet has fans talking about a possible comeback. Do his words mean he is looking at a comeback? If so, would a comeback be wise?
It's easy to see how this tweet could be construed as testing the waters for a possible comeback. De La Hoya was always a fighter fans wanted to see. His 2007 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr is still the highest grossing pay-per-view event in boxing history.
Being the business man that he is, a tweet of this nature could be used to gauge public desire to see him back in the boxing ring, ergo also determining the amount of money that could be generated by a possible return. Let's face it, money is going to be key if De La Hoya is contemplating a return. At 39 years of age, and with almost four years of retirement under his belt, there is little chance of him achieving the levels of success he has in the past.
Now, to the question at hand, would a comeback be wise?
To this I have to say no. Sure, De La Hoya looked impressive in the first half of his bout with Mayweather, almost five and a half years ago. However, in that fight he faded badly in the second half and Mayweather took over.
In his next two fights, De La Hoya looked a shell of his former self. He fought to a lackluster decision victory against Steve Forbes in May of 2008, and followed that with a one sided beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in what was his last fight in December 2008.
The De La Hoya who fought in those last two fights, to me at least, was a man who had nothing left. His mind was still trying to compete at the top, but a lifetime in boxing had left his body with nothing in the tank.
It's never easy for a boxer to end his fighting career, but I thought after the Manny fight that it was a very wise choice. De La Hoya had Golden Boy Promotions to focus on and preserved his health by retiring. Could he have taken another fight to not go out on such a dramatic loss? Sure, but what was the point?
Now, rumours of a comeback four years later on the back of that tweet? People do like to read a lot into words. I read something different from them. I read the words of a wise promoter telling his adoring fans that, as great as they thought he was, his young stud is better.
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