Oscar De La Hoya has named his hardest-hitting opponent.
The boxing legend fought everyone during his Hall of Famer career, which spanned from 1992 to 2008 and saw him become a six-weight world champion.
‘Golden Boy’ has an impressive resume after recording wins over Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whittaker, while he also squared off with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao towards the end of his career.
Still, he says it was a novice boxer who hit him harder than anyone else.
Oscar De La Hoya recalls fight with Shaquille O’Neal
A year after retiring from the sport, Oscar De La Hoya returned to the ring for an exhibition bout with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
The 51-year-old duked it out with O’Neal as part of the former LA Lakers star’s reality television program ‘Shaq Vs’, which had a very simple concept.
O’Neal challenged other athletes at their sport, intending to beat them and have bragging rights over his fellow athletes.
‘SHAQ’ carried a massive size advantage into his fight with De La Hoya. The 7ft 1in basketball player towered over the boxing superstar after tipping the scales at 325lbs.
In contrast, De La Hoya stands at 5ft 10in and weighed just 159lbs for the fight. Still, he managed to emerge victorious courtesy of a unanimous decision from the judges.
Both men were taking it easy in the fight, but De La Hoya still got a taste of O’Neal’s power and he insists it was the hardest anyone has ever hit him.
“My memories [of the fight] were that I was in awe of a giant of a man being in front of me,” he told talkSPORT.
“He was over 300lbs and 7ft 2in and he can fight. Shaquille O’Neal can fight, he trained for many years, and he loves boxing.”
Asked what his power was like, De La Hoya replied: “Wow! He would run in front of me, and I would throw punches, and it would mean nothing.
“I’m sure I felt like a fly to him, his punches were very powerful. It’s probably the hardest I have been hit and he wasn’t even trying to hit me hard. He is a very powerful man.”
Oscar De La Hoya set to fight again?
Oscar De La Hoya was supposed to make his boxing comeback in 2021.
However, he withdrew from a fight with UFC legend Vitor Belfort and was thankful for doing so after watching late-replacement opponent Evander Holyfield get brutally knocked out by ‘The Phenom’.
Three years later, De La Hoya is currently flirting with a new comeback opponent.
Fellow boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who has no professional fighting experience, is the man De La Hoya hopes to return to the ring against in 2025.
The Golden Boy Promotions head insists he will fight Hearn for free, but the Matchroom Sports CEO claims he will only lace up the gloves to an extraordinary amount of money.
Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has the type of money to turn De La Hoya and Hearn’s online bickering into a real boxing rivalry. Only time will tell if he tries to make the strange matchup in the new year.