Oscar De La Hoya Hospitalized With COVID-19, Ending Comeback Bid

LOS ANGELES, CA — Boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya has been hospitalized with COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, he announced Friday.

The East Los Angeles boxer's illness is forcing him to withdraw from his comeback fight next week at Staples Center. In a video posted to Twitter from his hospital bed, De La Hoya admitted he feels terrible.

"What are the chances of me getting COVID? I've been taking care of myself. This really, really kicked my ass," he said.

It was a stunning video, coming from one of the nation's top athletes.

"Wanted you to hear directly from me that despite being fully vaccinated, I have contracted COVID and am not going to be able to fight next weekend. Preparing for this comeback has been everything to me over the last months & I want to thank everyone for their tremendous support," he wrote on Twitter. "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, 48, was slated to fight former UFC champion Vitor Belfort Sept. 11 at Staples Center. The fight was billed as a boxing legend's comeback as well as a deeply personal journey for a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

This week De La Hoya told reporters he was returning to the ring for healing. He said he was raped by a much older woman when he was just 13. Boxing, he said, is one of the ways he finds peace with the trauma he experienced.

The fights that made him a legend were for the fans, he told reporters. This one would be for himself, he said.

“I’m doing it for me,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

According to multiple media reports, fight-production company Triller has called on former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, 58, to take on Belfort instead. The match, however, has not yet been sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission. According to the reports, the bout could be moved out of state, possibly to Florida, if the CSAC does not approve the bout as a professional matchup. Florida happens to the epicenter of the nation's COVID-19 outrbreak. Or the fight could be designated an exhibition.

It was unclear where De La Hoya is hospitalized. According to the Los Angeles Times, the fighter met with a group of reporters earlier this week in downtown Los Angeles, at the headquarters of his Golden Boy boxing company.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.