Oscar De La Hoya fought the best of his era during a decorated career that saw him become a global star and multi-weight champion of the sport.
The East Los Angeles native saw success in the amateur ranks on his way to an Olympic gold medal at the Barcelona Games in 1992 and then picked up 10 world titles across six weight classes on his way to becoming a Hall of Famer.
He was asked by Combat Podcast who hit him the hardest out of the two legends Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, both of who beat him at the tail end of his career. He started by down-playing Mayweather’s power.
“We all know that Mayweather is not known for a big punch. It stings, you know it stings, yes.”
He then claimed, which will come as a surprise to many fans, that Pacquiao hit no harder than ‘Pretty Boy’, but just more often.
“I’d have say they were about the same.
It’s funny, because I didn’t feel Pacquiao’s punch, it didn’t do anything to me, maybe it’s because Pacquiao was coming up in weight, I believe that was his first fight at welterweight so I didn’t really feel his punch. With him it was more of an accumulation, you know, but I would say about the same, they punch the same.”
Pacquiao is on the verge of an unlikely comeback as he has been offered the opportunity to head straight into a world title fight against Mario Barrios for the WBC belt. The opportunity comes despite not having fought for two years since his bruising loss to Yordenis Ugas.
Mayweather on the other hand is sticking to exhibition fights with and will return to the ring on August 24 for a rematch against John Gotti III.
