De la Hoya insists he’s serious on ring return

CEBU, Philippines —  Twelve years since he suffered a shocking defeat to Manny Pacquiao that sent him to retirement, boxing's 'Golden Boy' Oscar de la Hoya mulls on fighting again.

In a report by Anthony Cocks of ringnews24.com, De la Hoya, now 47, a Hall of Famer and an accomplished promoter, insisted that he is dead serious on his comeback a dozen years after he last saw action in the ring.

De la Hoya hasn't fought since he was battered into submission by Pacquiao at the end of round eight during their prestige welterweight match on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

During that time, Pacquiao was the heavy underdog and had to move up two weight divisions just to challenge De la Hoya, yet the Filipino sports icon ended up pulling off one of the greatest upsets in boxing history.

So devastated by the embarrassing loss that one week later the six-division world champion De la Hoya announced that he is hanging up his gloves for good.

Fast forward today, De la Hoya may have a sudden change of heart.

“I’ve been thinking about it (a comeback) more and more each day,” said De La Hoya in an interview with CBS Los Angeles’ sportscaster Jim Hill.

“I’ve been actually training and actually running. Who knows if it (a fight) will take place at the end of the year or early next year, but I’m getting there. I feel really good,” added the 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold medallist.