Oscar De La Hoya Says Fighter With 32 KOs And ‘Punches Like Bricks’ Was Hardest Hitter He Faced

Oscar De La Hoya has revealed the hardest hitter he faced during his career.

Best known as ‘The Golden Boy’, De La Hoya enjoyed an exceptional professional career which saw him win world titles across six weight divisions.

He triumphed against a number of the greatest fighters of his generation, including the likes of Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey and Arturo ‘Thunder’ Gatti to name a few.

Despite going up against an abundance of heavy hitters, De La Hoya has narrowed the list down and revealed the one fighter who hit him harder than anyone else.

In a round of the ‘Best I Faced’ with The Ring Magazine, ‘The Golden Boy’ didn’t hesitate to name Ike Quartey as the hardest puncher he ever locked horns with, as he admits he was ‘rattled’ by the African’s shots on more than one occasion.

“His punches were like bricks; he hit me and it would sting me. Every punch he would hit me with, it would rattle me.”

De La Hoya faced Quartey back in February 1999, defeating the Ghanian via split decision to successfully defend his WBC world welterweight title at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Despite suffering this defeat to De La Hoya, Quartey enjoyed an impressive professional career where he became a two-weight world champion, picking up the WBA world welterweight title and the IBF light middleweight title throughout his tenure.

‘Bazooka’ retired from boxing in 2006, shortly after he was beaten by Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright in the 42nd and final outing of his career.