When pics of pugilist Oscar De La Hoya started circulating around the Web, we smelled a rat. Now De La Hoya's agent at CAA, Jack Tiernan, confirms as much.
"They're completely manufactured," Tiernan tells Radar. "The pictures have been manipulated or manufactured, and the matter has been referred to his attorney." Tiernan says De La Hoya's attorney had spoken with the fighter, who said as much.
Calls to Stephen Espinoza, the attorney, were not immediately returned.
Also not immediately returned, messages to X17, the paparazzi agency that may well have been duped. The caption beneath the photos on X17's blog states: "Yes, people, this is the tough guy, champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya, all prettied up for the camera! Wonder what his wife Millie will say when she sees these!"
The whole thing comes in the wake of a bet De La Hoya had previously made with Sugar Ray Leonard over a minor fight in which the loser would then handle ring card girl duties during the subsequent main event. The fight was postponed.