TAKING JABS. Oscar De La Hoya responds to Manny Pacquiao’s teasing post. INSTAGRAM/MANNY PACQUIAO
MANILA, Philippines—Retired boxers returning to the sport has been quite the trend lately, with Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. trading leather in 2020 and even mixed martial arts legend Anderson Silva will take go up the ring to face former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr..
There’s also Evander Holyfield keeping himself in shape for a potential return and six-division World champion Oscar Dela Hoya recently announcing his return to the Sweet Science.
And with all these old heads returning, also comes some prime barbecued beef.
The same day Dela Hoya announced his return, old rival Manny Pacquiao threw some virtual jabs at the man he sent to retirement in 2008.
— Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) March 26, 2021
Ever the fighter, Dela Hoya retorted and commented on Pacquiao’s Instagram post.
“And still couldn’t take me down drained and all. Love you,” posted Dela Hoya in a not so subtle dig at Pacquiao. That “love you” remark just brings out that little hostility.
De La Hoya was replying to Pacquiao’s Instagram post of a video showing the the eight-division World champion pummeling the Golden Boy during their 2008 bout.
The context of Dela Hoya’s retort is how Pacquiao, despite dominating the fight in the eight rounds it lasted, never knocked him down to the mat even after the former Olympic gold medalist went down from super welterweight to welterweight just to make the fight.
Dela Hoya, who’s still active in the business as Golden Boy Promotions’ CEO, has said that he wants to fight the top guys in the sport, and Pacquiao is still considered one of the boxers in the upper echelon.
A rematch between the two is, by most accounts, preposterous since they have a combined age of 90 years with Dela Hoya recently turning 48 and Pacquiao at 42.