Photo by Ethan Miller/Golden Boy Promotions-Getty Images

So much for talk of fighting Gennady Golovkin and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

After weeks of speculating whether he would come out of retirement and return to the ring, Oscar De La Hoya decided it was best to remain retired. The “Golden Boy” made the announcement on social media on Monday.

“Over the last six months, I’ve had a front row seat as Golden Boy [Promotions] fighters including Canelo Alvarez, Bernard Hopkins, Lucas Matthysse, Jorge Linares and David Lemieux have stepped into the ring and shown what boxing should be all about – a commitment to fight the best, to respect the sport and to put the fans first,” De La Hoya posted on his Facebook page.

“As a professional athlete and someone who has spent almost his entire life in boxing, not a day goes by when I don’t think about coming back – and the performances of these Golden Boy fighter(s) has only added to my desire to return to the ring.

“But I am retired and after speaking to my family and following a great deal of introspection, I have decided to stay retired.

“However, I do so with knowledge that many fighters today still pride themselves on the same [principles] that I adhered to throughout my career. It is now through boxers like those I mentioned and dozens of other Golden Boy Promotions fighters that those values live on.”

Over the last couple of months, there were rumors that De La Hoya was training to get in shape for a return. He never mentioned anything until TMZ confronted him outside the Belasco Theatre on June 4. It was there when De La Hoya said, “If I ever come back, it would be against Gennady Golovkin.”

Even Mayweather got into the act early last week, offering De La Hoya a rematch of their May 2007 bout in Las Vegas.

The 42-year-old De La Hoya had made previous statements that lingering injuries did affect any attempt of a comeback prior to this year. Alcohol and substance abuse issues also took center stage but, in 2014, De La Hoya announced his desire to rededicate himself and, since then, has taken a more hands-on approach to running Golden Boy Promotions. He reached out to Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum to end what had become known as the “Cold War” between their promotional companies.

Other than working daily in the GBP office in Los Angeles, De La Hoya also launched De La Hoya TV in January, a cable television sports channel on which live boxing could air later this year or in 2016.

Last year, De La Hoya was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since Oct. of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.