Boxing

Oscar De La Hoya Issues Warning To Manny Pacquiao On Boxing Return

Oscar De La Hoya didn't mince words about Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement.
Grant Young|
Legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao seen during a joint press conference on July 20, 2023.
Legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao seen during a joint press conference on July 20, 2023. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Earlier this month, news broke that Filipino boxing legend and pound-for-pound icon Manny Pacquiao is slated to face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at some point this summer.

Pacquiao, who is an eight-division champion, is currently 46 years old. His last fight took place on August 21, 2021, which was a unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas. About a month after that defeat, Pacquiao announced his retirement from boxing. He has not won a fight since a split decision victory over Keith Thurman on July 20, 2019.

While some are excited to see Pacquiao (who was once one of boxing's most beloved active fighters) return to the ring, others are lamenting seeing another man who's way past his prime competing.

One guy who falls in the latter category is boxing icon Oscar De La Hoya, who fought Pacquiao on December 6, 2008, and lost to him via technical knockout. During a May 12 interview with Seconds Out, De La Hoya opened up about Pacquiao coming out of retirement.

“I wish him all the best," De La Hoya said. "Obviously the truth is the truth, he’s obviously not the same Pacquiao that fought me, that fought the greats. I wish him the best, be careful up there, he’s not young like he used to be. But I’m sure he still has that power, so anything can happen.

"But yeah, just be careful," he added.

It sounds like De La Hoya is one of many who might be watching Pacquiao's return through their hands.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.