Anyone who has followed Oscar De La Hoya’s career knows that he’s no stranger to wild photos. Most recently, he sparked some debate when he posted a shirtless beach photo to Instagram.
As you can probably guess by the title, fans started to question the boxer’s abs. The skepticism makes sense as Oscar never had this level of ab definition, even in his prime.
“Where did u find your doctor? Nice ab job 🙌.” asked one commenter with questionable sincerity.
“It’s called lipo,” added another.
It’s hard to tell just how he got his new abs just by looking at the photo. Luckily, we don’t have to guess anymore.
Oscar made a follow-up post in which he claimed that he “paid way too much money for these abs to ever wear a shirt again.”
His girlfriend Holly Sonders chimed in to support the now eternally shirtless boxer by confirming that he had ab etching and not ab implants.
What is the difference between ab etching and implants?
Ab etching removes unwanted fat around the midsection using micro-targeted liposuction techniques. Ideally, this contours and showcases the ab muscles by tightening the skin and removing the fat that’s hiding the muscle. The abs aren’t fake, they’re just no longer under a layer of pesky fat. This works best on an individual who has done their best to get in shape but can’t shred that last bit of stubborn belly fat. Someone like Oscar, who is in pretty good shape for his age, is a good candidate for ab etching.
Abdominal implant surgery, on the other hand, is a procedure that implants actual silicone into the ab region to create a “six-pack” or “eight-pack.” While ab implants are less common, it’s similar to a woman who gets silicone implants to make her breasts look bigger.
With ab etching, you’re seeing the person’s actual ab muscles. With implants, you’re seeing silicone in the form of abs. Between the two, some might find etching more socially acceptable while implants might appear ab-solutely absurd.
Oscar is not the only boxer to enhance their abs
That depends on who you ask.
Former Argentine professional boxer Marcos Maidana was seemingly retired after his back-to-back losses to Floyd Mayweather back in 2014. Losing to Floyd is nothing to be ashamed of, and fans believed that Maidana was simply enjoying his retirement and the millions he made from the pair of fights. When Maidana’s weight ballooned up during his “retirement”, it made a comeback all the more improbable.
However, Maidana shocked the boxing world when he announced his desire to fight again. Now that he’s back in preparation, he’s streamlined his body and fans were quick to speculate about ab etching. However, these results were never confirmed and several sources have attempted to debunk these claims. For now, we can give Maidana the benefit of the doubt.
This is certainly an unexpected trend with boxing legends. Will Tyson Fury be sporting some flabby abs in his next fight? Well, at least De La Hoya appears happy about the quality of the procedure. Maybe these “fake abs” should get an oscar for their performance.
Parting thought: would silicone ab implants help defend against a punch to the gut?
