Oscar De La Hoya held a news conference today to announce his retirement from the sport of boxing. Oscar took a long time to make what seemed to be a very difficult decision for him. In the end, he decided he could no longer compete at the top level. De La Hoya won the Olympic gold medal in 1992 and burst on to the boxing scene as the "Golden Boy" going 31-0 in his first 31 fights before stepping up the level of competition to the likes of Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather. He lost to all of them and ended up 39-6 to close out his career. De La Hoya did manage spectacular victories against ring legends Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker. He also had a big win against Ike Quartey. Ultimately, De La Hoya struggled greatly against pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao in losing his last fight and probably used that as a significant basis for his decision to retire.
Oscar will probably be most known for the phenomenal popularity and box office appeal he had in the ring. He was the biggest draw ever in the sport and changed the landscape for future fighters like Manny Pacquiao. His fight against Mayweather went down as the biggest PPV draw in history. De La Hoya is now hoping that his appeal helps translate to results for his promotional company "Golden Boy Promotions".
Only time will tell if Oscar can stay away from the ring and avoid one more farewell fight for his fans and for himself. For now, he is resolute about his decision to retire. There's no doubting that he's had a great career.
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