 De la Hoya says he will not fight at middleweight again |
Oscar de la Hoya has targeted a return to the welterweight division after deciding not to retire from boxing. De la Hoya was stopped for the first time in his career when he lost his middleweight clash with Bernard Hopkins in the ninth round in September.
"I'm not retired at all," he told Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
"From 147 to 150 (pounds), that's my natural weight. It's almost impossible to do something in the 154 or 160 divisions. It's too heavy for me."
De la Hoya, who was Olympic champion in Barcelona in 1992, has held titles in six different weight divisions, from super featherweight to middleweight.
He won the WBO middleweight crown in June by beating Felix Sturm, but lost it to Hopkins three months later. De la Hoya will plot his future in the coming weeks, but he has ruled out a possible rematch with former middleweight champion Felix Trinidad.
The Puerto Rican beat de la Hoya in 1999 in one of the most anticipated fights of recent years.
"If he (Trinidad) wants to come down (in weight), the door is open. But it would not be very intelligent from my part to go up in weight," said de la Hoya.
MMIX
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