After a career in which he went 39-6 with 30 knockouts, and was a champion in six different weight classes, it was hard for De La Hoya to say goodbye to the sport he loved so much. From an outdoor plaza across from the Staples Center where a statue of his person stands, he stated behind tears, "It's over inside the ring for me."
Losing four of his last seven fights, including the 8-round TKO to number-one boxer Manny Pacquiao in December of 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, De La Hoya still had a hard time saying goodbye, going "back and forth" with his decision to stop competing at the highest level.
Even though he will be out of the ring, he still plans to pursue his company, Golden Boy Promotions, a combat sport promotional firm.
While some Twitterers saw this retirement coming for months...
CharmedForce Is anyone else surprised that De La Hoya is retiring? Srsly, I thought he already did.
amanjo De La Hoya officially throws in the towel. After his last fight, I'm only surprised it took him this long to quit. #boxing #sweetscience
kidvicarus Wow! Oscar de la Hoya retired today from boxing...not surprising since he got dominated on in his last fight...
lockhartline @headlinenews De la Hoya has been washed up for years, bout time he hung em up!!
...others were bittersweet about the legendary boxer stepping away from the ring:
Donnieholic78 gutted that De La Hoya has retired :(...was looking forward to him + Hatton...eventually happening.
NeRoOfROME missing "The Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya.. have a great retirement... You are definetly on my top five pound 4 pound fighters of all time!
FlowsWell De La Hoya retires! 1 less reason to watch boxing maybe he or mayweather will come back one day
naNYminute Oscar De La Hoya retires from active fighting! A blow to the boxing world. A HUGE fan of the Golden Boy, I lay my head.
Crubalo Oscar De La Hoya has retired. He's been my fav overseas fighter since the 90's. He's calling it a day at the right time though. Legend.
