HOUSTON — Oscar De La Hoya says he's "leaning toward retirement" from boxing, but is getting pressure from people close to him to fight again.

De La Hoya, who turned 36 earlier this month, was soundly beaten by Manny Pacquiao in December, his fourth loss in his last seven fights. The sport's biggest and most bankable star was in Houston on Thursday to promote Saturday's lightweight championship fight between Juan Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez.

De La Hoya (39-6) appeared sluggish after dropping weight to fight Pacquiao at 147 pounds, and said his poor performance is the most compelling reason he'd return to the ring.

"I'm actually, at this point, a little bit confused on what I'm going to do," he said. "Here I am, ready to make my decision, saying, 'OK, you know what? I'm going to hang up the gloves. I think I'm ready.' But then I have people — a lot of people — telling me, 'Wait, that wasn't you against Manny.'

"Everybody wants to try to bring up excuses on what happened," he said, "and then it starts changing your mind. It starts pulling you back in. I just want to make sure I make the correct decision before I make the final one."

De La Hoya said his wife, Millie, has tried to convince him to retire, mostly for the sake of their two children.

"When you have your wife telling you — not every day — but reminding you, 'Look, you have kids who look up to you, who want to spend a lot of time with you, who don't want to see their father in bad shape,"' he said, "it makes you think."

De La Hoya set no timeline for an official announcement, one way or the other. He's generated more money than any boxer in history, but he's not sure if he's mentally ready to undertake another round of rigorous training just for the sake of one more big payday.

"Do I want to go back to the mountains and train for two months at the stage of my career? Those are the questions I have to ask myself," he said. "Obviously, you have the other side of it, where you have tons of people wherever I go telling me, 'Man, you still have it in you.'

"I don't if it's a trap," he said. "It could be encouragement for me to leave the sport on top, which raises another question: Why would I want to leave the sport as a loser? I want to go out there and maybe, if I do decide to fight, leave the sport as a champion. There are a lot of questions I have to answer."

De La Hoya admitted he'd look for a favorable opponent who fights closer to his style, unlike Pacquiao, who was quicker and made De La Hoya chase him around the ring.

"If I have a fighter who can stay in front of me, and who can fight, who is not going to move as much, then maybe it can be a more exciting fight, a more even fight for me," he said. "Styles make fights. This decision is going to be very difficult, but hopefully, I'll make the right one."