Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Oscar De La Hoya ended the “Golden Boy’s” legendary career with a sad ending for the legend.
The dream fight between the two boxing icons finally took place in 2008, in a bout dubbed “The Dream Match”.
Oscar De La Hoya walked into the fight as a former six-weight champion and had just bounced back from a crushing defeat to Floyd Mayweather in 2007.
A year later, and with a victory over Steve Forbes under his belt, he was set to battle PacMan in the second of his three-fight retirement tour.
However, the destructive fists of Manny Pacquiao meant that the “Golden Boy” never got the third fight in that trilogy.
Oscar De La Hoya admits Manny Pacquiao made him retire with a ‘tough beating’
Pacquiao beat De La Hoya in comprehensive fashion in their 2008 fight, as the referee stopped the fight after the eighth round due to the Filipino’s dominance.
Despite the huge size disparity (Pacquiao had to jump up two weight classes while De La Hoya dropped one), he dominated his legendary opponent with his flurry of punches.
Two of the judges scored Pacquiao as winning every round, and even De La Hoya admitted that they knew he was past it during the bout.
Speaking with Larry King in 2019, De La Hoya admitted that Pacquiao’s “tough beating” forced him into retirement, which he is glad of in hindsight.
He explained how fighting Pacquiao made him realize he was a “shell of myself”, as he was humiliated by his opponent throughout the fight.
De La Hoya said: “It was very hard. It actually took a very tough beating to get me out of the sport. Manny Pacquiao.
“I mean, he beat the hell out of me, but I’m glad he did because it made me retire.
“I’m like a shell of myself, and Manny Pacquiao beats me, and he’s the next champion. It felt a little… I felt humiliated.
“Manny Pacquiao would be right in front of me. He would jab me 15 times, and then I would be ready to hit him, and he would be wide open, and I couldn’t pull the trigger.
“I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I was gun-shy.”
17 years later, De La Hoya is a boxing promoter, while Pacquiao is stepping back into the ring for a world title fight.
Manny Pacquiao is 11 years older for his comeback fight than Oscar De La Hoya was when he retired
De La Hoya was 35 when he knew he had to retire, thanks to the beating at the hands of Pacquiao.
However, that just shows how incredible PacMan is as an athlete, as he prepares to return to the ring at the age of 46!
Pacquiao will take on Mario Barrios in his first fight for four years on July 19, as he attempts to become a 13-time world champion.
His age makes Pacquiao 11 years older than De La Hoya when the “Golden Boy” retired, although PacMan’s conditioning is among the greatest in boxing history.
A victory could see Pacquiao face Conor Benn in the future, so it looks like the eight-weight champion has no intentions of retiring anytime soon.