Oscar De La Hoya says he is returning to the boxing ring for a bout against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort.<\/p>\n
The 48-year-old De La Hoya announced Thursday that he will end his nearly 13-year ring retirement Sept. 11 in Las Vegas for what is expected to be an exhibition fight.<\/p>\n
The Golden Boy's return is backed by Triller, the social networking service that has aggressively jumped into the fight game over the past year.<\/p>\n
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De La Hoya hasn't fought an actual fight since losing to Manny Pacquiao in December 2008. The Olympic gold medalist from Los Angeles was one of the biggest pay-per-view stars in the sport during his heyday while winning world championships in six weight classes.<\/p>\n
De La Hoya, who also runs Golden Boy Promotions, praised Triller in a statement for its "game-changing model of reimagining the boxing business as four-quadrant entertainment."<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeCoppinger\/status\/1405582624417103875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n Triller has gained a quick foothold in boxing by promoting highly non-traditional bouts such as Mike Tyson's entertaining exhibition against Roy Jones Jr., and YouTube star Jake Paul's non-exhibition stoppage of mixed martial arts fighter Ben Askren. The Triller shows feature musical performances interspersed with fights, and the company says it intends to put on a full festival concert around De La Hoya's return.<\/p>\n The 44-year-old Belfort held the UFC's light heavyweight title and knocked out 12 opponents while gaining a reputation as a strong striker. The Brazilian hasn't fought a mixed martial arts bout since 2018, and he won his only previous professional boxing match.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"