Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya has been hospitalized with breakthrough Covid-19, he announced Friday on social media.
“I mean, what are the chances of me getting Covid? I’ve been taking care of myself and this really, really kicked my a–,” the fighter said in a video from his hospital bed.
De La Hoya, 48-year-old, was scheduled to fight Vitor Belfort on Set. 11 in Los Angeles after 13 years away from the ring. The boxer said due to his diagnosis, he had to withdraw.
“Preparing for this comeback has been everything to me over the last months, and I want to thank everyone for their tremendous support,” he said in a statement accompanying the video. “I am currently in the hospital getting treatment and am confident I will be back in the ring before the year is up. God bless everyone and stay safe.”
De La Hoya’s match with Belfort was going to be the main event of a Triller Fight Club. Co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh told ESPN that Evander Holyfield has agreed to step in and fight Belfort.
De La Hoya, also known as “The Golden Boy,” has won 10 world titles in six different weight classes, according to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2014. He was one of the most popular boxers in the history of the sport, generating hundreds of millions of dollars from his pay-per-view matches, biography.com reported. His last professional fight was a loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2008. The fighter retired the following year.
