Bloody and bruised Oscar De La Hoya made admission to Freddie Roach after Manny Pacquiao retired him with shocking stoppage
Oscar De la Hoya immediately realised his legendary boxing career was over after being ruthlessly dismantled by Manny Pacquiao in 2008.
According to Freddie Roach, who was in the opposite corner after previously working with De La Hoya, he immediately admitted he no longer had what it takes to compete with the best.
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“You were right, Freddie. I don’t have it anymore,” the fight legend told Roach in the ring moments after being pulled out of the bout by his corner following an eight-round beatdown.
The Hall of Fame trainer predicted exactly what happened and had been telling anyone who would listen that ‘Golden Boy’ was way past his best heading into the fight.
However, Roach was initially hesitant to book Pacquiao, who started his career at 106lbs and had trouble getting up to the 140lbs light-welterweight limit, against a much bigger man.
De La Hoya was a six-weight world champion and had fought several times at 154lbs - he even went to 160lbs to fight Bernard Hopkins before setting up a ‘David vs Goliath’ clash with Pacquiao.
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A flashback, to the one camp he spent with De La Hoya preparing for his valiant but ultimately unfruitful attempt to take Floyd Mayweather’s undefeated record in 2007, changed his mind.
“I needed sparring partners,” Roach told in 2016. “Some were coming in from Philadelphia, but they were late arriving.
“I ran into Ivan Calderon. He is from Puerto Rico and was the 106-pound world champ. I told him about my sparring partner problem, and he says, ‘I’ll spar with De La Hoya.’”
Concerned for Calderon’s safety, Roach initially turned down his offer, but after some persuading, he ultimately relented despite fearing the much smaller man could be ‘killed’ in the ring.
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Roach was stunned by what he witnessed as Calderon ‘beat up’ De La Hoya for three days straight – it was an experience that led the 63-year-old to conclude his fighter was showing signs of rapid decline.
With a job at hand, he chose to ignore that, and instead help De La Hoya push Mayweather to the brink of defeat before being sacked for his efforts.
“I didn’t want it, couldn’t see it. I just said no. No way,” Roach said about a potential clash between De La Hoya and Pacquiao, whom he first met in 2001 at the famous Wild Card gym in California.
“And then, I woke up in the middle of the night one night, and there it was. Ivan Calderon. The next day, I called up and said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s do it.’”
De La Hoya has been retired ever since being beaten up by Pacquiao, who walked away from the sport in 2021 after winning world titles in eight different weight classes.
Roach continues to churn out champions and it’s clear to see why as he is an excellent judge of talent, and can spot a fighter on the slide before anyone else.
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