Oscar De La Hoya and Vitor Belfort faced off for the first time on Tuesday ahead of their main event boxing match scheduled for Sept. 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The special kickoff press conference held at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed De La Hoya and Belfort as they came face-to-face just seven weeks prior to their showdown, which will be promoted by Triller Fight Club.
The fight will serve as De La Hoya’s first appearance in the ring since 2008 when he suffered a loss to Manny Pacquiao prior to calling it a career. Now 13 years later, the former multi-time champion will return to the ring with hopes of restarting his career with De La Hoya teasing his interest in potential fights down the road with Floyd Mayweather or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
As for Belfort, the former UFC champion will compete in professional boxing for the first time since 2006 when he earned a win in his lone appearance in the sport. Belfort hasn’t fought since 2018 in his final bout for the UFC, although he was previously preparing for a boxing match for Triller back in June until the card was cancelled when Teofimo Lopez tested positive for COVID-19, which forced the entire event to be delayed.
Now Belfort will square off with De La Hoya in a professional boxing match that will be sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission.
