"Greatest fighter ever" - Oscar De La Hoya is all praise for Manny Pacquiao following loss to Yordenis Ugas

Oscar De La Hoya recently praised Manny Pacquiao after his loss against Yordenis Ugas.

In a recent video, De La Hoya gave his opinion on the phenomenal career of 'PacMan' and his willingness to continue fighting at the age of 42.

In an interview with Fight Hype, 'The Golden Boy' said:

"Pacquiao is Pacquiao, he is a legend, he's the best, I think he'll probably go down as the greatest fighter that we've seen, ever!... It was a privilege watching his fight and it's probably the end of an era..."

Analyzing Pacquiao's performance against Ugas, the Mexican-American boxing legend said:

"I think that Manny Pacquiao looked good, just Ugas didn't make him look good. Being 44 I think he was, Pacquiao, he actually looked good, he looked good. He went 12 hard rounds with a younger guy."

If this is it for Manny Pacquiao, he leaves the sport with an incredible resume:🌟 Only boxer to win a title in eight different weight classes🌟 Only boxer to hold titles in four different decades🌟 Only boxer to win the welterweight title four times pic.twitter.com/Szx9WkmjWv

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 23, 2021

De La Hoya also recalled his fight with the Filipino in which he suffered a technical knockout loss against a prime Manny Pacquiao.

"And that's the problem with us fighters, you know, we go for the younger guy. It happened with me and Manny Pacquiao when he kicked my a** because he was the younger guy."

Watch Oscar De La Hoya's full interview with FightHype below:

Manny Pacquiao gave Oscar De La Hoya his worst defeat inside the boxing ring

'The Golden Boy' faced Manny Pacquiao on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

De La Hoya took a beating and absorbed hard shots throughout the fight until his corner stopped it after the eighth round. Pacquiao was ahead on all three of the judges' scorecards before the stoppage.

After the bout, Pacquiao's head trainer Freddie Roach stated:

"We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot."

The bout turned out to be Oscar De La Hoya's final fight in his legendary career. But De La Hoya is now returning to the ring.

On June 17, it was announced that De La Hoya would enter the squared circle again for an exhibition bout against UFC veteran Vitor Belfort on September 11 under the promotional banner of Triller.

Oscar De La Hoya announced he will make a return to the boxing ring for a match on July 3.His last fight was against Manny Pacquiao in 2008. pic.twitter.com/IgL1es8Ypi

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 26, 2021