At age 47, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya has officially informed ESPN  that he plans to resume his Hall of Fame career in the boxing rink. De La Hoya tells the media outlet that he has the itch again and plans to get some sparring work in as he prepares for the comeback.

De La Hoya also says this won’t be some novelty event like Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones, and that it will in fact be a ‘real fight’ against a live opponent. And given how De La Hoya has conducted his professional career,  I really can’t completely dismiss that notion. For whatever you say about Oscar, the guy literally fought anybody worth a damn that was in or near his weight class while he competed. However, he hasn’t competed or fought professionally since a 2008 beating from Manny Pacquiao.

“It’s a real fight,” said De La Hoya. “I miss being in the ring, I love boxing. Boxing is what gave me everything I have today, and I just miss it.” “Look, it’s been a long time, yes,” said De La Hoya. “But actually my jab feels faster than ever. I have to make sure that my conditioning is perfect, my health is good. And that’s going to take place in the next few weeks. So we’ll see.”

De La Hoya continued by saying that none of these current crop of fighters are cut from the same cloth as his, and while they’re mostly interested in making money, he’s interest in earning glory which is prompting this decision to return. No official opponent has been named for De La Hoya’s comeback, but he said he’s willing to consider any top guy within his 154-160 weight class.

Bernard Hopkins, at age 46, became the oldest fighter to win a major boxing championship  in 2011, when he took the World Boxing Council’s light-heavyweight title from Canada’s Jean Pascal in a unanimous decision at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Hopkins supplanted George Foreman as the oldest champion in history. Foreman won the heavyweight title when he was 45 with a 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer in 1994.

De La Hoya claims he’s doing this for glory and not the money and if & when he follows through with his comeback attempt, and is victorious winning a major bout, he has the potential to become the oldest boxer to ever win a major championship. And with all that newfound glory will most definitely earn him a whole lotta money.

Photo Credit : Instagram Oscar