Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born February 4, 1973) is a Mexican-American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including lineal championships in three weight classes.ESPN Deportes Unveils List of 'Next Hispanic Athletes' He is considered to be one of the best, if not the BEST, Mexican American fighters of all time. . Hispanicprwire.com (March 20, 2007). Retrieved on May 19, 2012.Oscar De La Hoya . Boxrec.com. Retrieved on May 19, 2012. De La Hoya was nicknamed "The Golden Boy of Boxing" by the media when he represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics where, shortly after graduating from James A. Garfield High School, he won a gold medal in the lightweight division. He is regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time and is ranked the 16th greatest boxer by BoxRec.
De La Hoya was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1995, and was its top-rated fighter in the world, pound for pound, in 1997 and 1998. De La Hoya generated approximately $700 million in pay-per-view income, making him the top pay-per-view earner before being surpassed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.Iole, Kevin Where Manny Pacquiao ranks among the biggest PPV boxing draws of all-time", Yahoo! Sports, April 8, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2018. He announced his retirement as a fighter in 2009, following a professional career spanning 16 years.
In 2002, De La Hoya founded Golden Boy Promotions, a combat sport promotional firm that also owns a 25% stake in the Houston Dynamo. He is the first American of Mexican descent to own a national boxing promotional firm, and one of the few boxers to take on promotional responsibilities while still active.Golden Boy Promotions Inc. In 2018, he began promoting MMA matches as well, beginning with a 2018 trilogy bout between long-time rivals Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz,Okamoto, Brett "Former UFC stars Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz agree to third MMA fight", ESPN, July 4, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018. with the inaugural Golden Boy MMA event taking place on November 24, 2018.BoxingScene.com "De La Hoya: I strongly feel Golden Boy MMA will not be a one-off", September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
De La Hoya has held dual American and Mexican citizenship since 2002, when the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles granted him Mexican citizenship, reflecting his heritage.
Early life He was born in East Los Angeles, California into a boxing family; his grandfather, Vicente, was an amateur fighter during the 1940s, and his father, Joel Sr., had been a professional boxer during the 1960s. His brother, Joel Jr., was also a boxer.Biography "Oscar De La Hoya", biography.com, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2018. De La Hoya graduated from Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, California in 1991.
Amateur career De La Hoya won the national Junior Olympics 119-pound title at age 15. After he lost a tournament in Whittier to Leon Hernandez from Santa Monica he won the 125-pound title the following year. His amateur career included 234 wins — 163 by knockout. Two were to Shane Mosley."Sugar" Shane Mosley. Cyber Boxing Zone. Retrieved on May 19, 2012. In 1989, he won the National Golden Gloves title in the bantamweight division. In 1990, at age 17, he won the U.S. National Championship at featherweight and was the youngest U.S. boxer at that year's Goodwill Games, winning a gold medal. The joy of victory was tempered by the news that his mother, Cecilia Gonzales De La Hoya (November 22, 1950 – October 28, 1990), was terminally ill with breast cancer. She died that October, expressing the hope that her son would one day become an Olympic gold medalist.
As the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona approached, De La Hoya turned his mother's dream into a strong focus for his training. After an upset victory in the first round over the Cuban boxer Julio Gonzalez; De La Hoya defeated German boxer Marco Rudolph to win the gold medal. Rudolph had been the only fighter to defeat him in the years leading up to the fight, adding drama. The U.S. media publicized his quest to fulfill his mother's dying wish and nicknamed him "The Golden Boy", which has remained with him throughout his career.Boxing: Fighters: Bio: OSCAR DE LA HOYA. HBO. Retrieved on May 19, 2012.Gale – Free Resources – Hispanic Heritage – Biographies – Oscar De La Hoya. Gale.cengage.com. Retrieved on May 19, 2012.Oscar de la Hoya is as Good as Gold | SUCCESS Magazine | What Achievers Read. SUCCESS Magazine. Retrieved on May 19, 2012. In 2000, the Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center was formally opened by De La Hoya and his siblings at the White Memorial Medical Center (WMMC), with a $350,000 donation from De La Hoya, in honor of their mother.WMMC Retrieved September 4, 2018. "Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center", 2000. Retrieved September 4, 2018.Rivera, Carla "De La Hoya Gives $350,000 to East L.A. Cancer Center", Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2000. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
Highlights Amateur record: 223–5 (unofficial)
Gold Medalist — 1989 National Golden Gloves (57 kg), May, Knoxville, Tennessee: Finals: Defeated Ivan Robinson (United States) by split decision, 3–2 Gold Medalist — 1990 U.S. National Championships (57 kg), February, Colorado Springs, Colorado: 1/4: Defeated Julian Wheeler by unanimous decision, 5–0 1/2: Defeated Sandtanner Lewis RET 1 Finals: Defeated Ivan Robinson by majority decision, 4–1 Winner — 1990 United States Olympic Cup (57 kg), June, Salt Palace Exhibition Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah: Defeated Kirkor Kirkorov (Bulgaria) by split decision, 2–1 Gold Medalist — 1990 Goodwill Games (57 kg), July – August, Seattle, Washington: 1/4: Defeated Lee Sang Hun (South Korea) RSC 3 1/2: Defeated Airat Khamatov (Soviet Union) by majority decision, 4–1 Finals: Defeated Ivan Robinson (United States) by majority decision, 4–1 Gold Medalist — 1991 U.S. National Championships (60 kg), February – March, Colorado Springs, Colorado: 1/4: Defeated Rogelio Cabral by unanimous decision, 5–0 1/2: Defeated Teddy Randolph by unanimous decision, 5–0 Finals: Defeated Patrice Brooks by unanimous decision, 5–0
Gold Medalist — 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival (60 kg), July, The Forum, Los Angeles, California: 1/2: Defeated Dezi Ford on points, 37–6 Finals: Defeated Patrice Brooks on points, 44–15 Participant — 1991 World Championships (60 kg), November, State Sports Centre, Sydney, Australia: 1/8: Lost to Marco Rudolph (Germany) on points, 13–17 Gold Medalist — 1992 Olympic Games (60 kg), July – August, Palau dels Esports, Barcelona, Spain:Boxing: People. HBO. Retrieved on May 19, 2012. 1/16: Defeated Adilson Rosa Silva (Brazil) RSC 3 1/8: Defeated Moses Odion (Nigeria) on points, 16–4 1/4: Defeated Toncho Tonchev (Bulgaria) on points, 16–7 1/2: Defeated Hong Sung-sik (South Korea) on points, 11–10 Finals: Defeated Marco Rudolph (Germany) on points, 7–2
2008 — United States Olympic Hall of Fame inductee.Hof Polls | Team USA . U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Retrieved on May 19, 2012.
Professional career
Super featherweight On November 23, 1992, De La Hoya made his professional debut by scoring a first-round KO victory over Lamar Williams in 1 minute 42 seconds.
De La Hoya vs. Concepción cancellation De La Hoya was scheduled to fight Jesús Vidal Concepción in a ten-round junior lightweight bout on December 9, 1993, televised by ESPN's "Thursday Night Fights" at the Paramount Theatre in New York City, but pulled out due to a wrist injury. Some found the injury suspicious and speculated that Oscar was being overdramatic. Oscar said that he aggravated an old ligament injury while hitting the heavy bag a week before. Later that month De La Hoya would fire his co-managers Mittleman and Nelson over money issues.
First title shot and defense
In his twelfth professional fight, he won his first world title at age 20, stopping Jimmy Bredahl (16–0) in the tenth round to win the WBO junior lightweight title. He defended the title once, stopping Giorgio Campanella (20–0) in three rounds.
Lightweight
On July 29, 1994, he knocked out Jorge Páez (53–6–4) in the second round to win the vacant WBO Lightweight title. He would successfully defend the title twice to close 1994, defeating fringe contenders Carl Griffith and John Avila, both by technical knockout. In February 1995, he defeated John-John Molina (36–3), who had recently vacated his IBF Super Featherweight title, by unanimous decision.
De La Hoya vs. Ruelas unification
On May 6, 1995, De La Hoya defeated IBF lightweight champion Rafael Ruelas (43–1–0) in a unification bout. De La Hoya knocked Ruelas down twice before the fight was stopped in the second round. The IBF then ordered De La Hoya to defend against Miguel Julio.
De La Hoya vs. Hernández
He relinquished the IBF title and defended the WBO title against undefeated Genaro Hernández (32–0–1), who relinquished the WBA super-featherweight title to fight De La Hoya.Michael Katz . nydailynews.com (July 13, 1995)
De La Hoya vs. Leija
Hernandez quit after six rounds because of a broken nose. In his sixth and final defense of the WBO lightweight title, he knocked out Jesse James Leija (30–1–2) in two rounds at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Light welterweight
Chávez vs. De La Hoya
On June 7, 1996, Oscar De La Hoya fought Mexican legend Julio César Chávez (96–1–1) for the lineal and WBC light welterweight championship. De la Hoya, with a record of 21–0 with 19 K.Os, defeated Chavez by a fourth-round TKO. The fight was stopped due to several bad cuts suffered by Chavez above his left eye. Until their rematch in 1998, Chávez stated that De La Hoya did not defeat him since the fight was stopped.
De La Hoya vs. González
De La Hoya successfully defended his titles with a twelve-round unanimous decision against undefeated former WBC Lightweight Champion and number one light welterweight contender Miguel Ángel González (41–0–0).
Welterweight
Whitaker vs. De La Hoya
In 1997, De La Hoya moved up to the welterweight division and fought Pernell Whitaker (40–1–1). The fight proved to be a difficult one. Whitaker frustrated De La Hoya with his defense, and landed more overall shots than De La Hoya, but De La Hoya's power punches and aggression swayed the judges more in his favor. De La Hoya won a twelve-round unanimous decision to capture the lineal and WBC titles. He also became the Ring Magazine's number-one ranked pound-for-pound fighter.De La Hoya likely to dodge rematch against Whitaker. Herald-Journal April 14, 1997. News.google.com (April 14, 1997). Retrieved on May 19, 2012.
De La Hoya vs. Kamau
On June 14, 1997, De La Hoya made the first successful defense of his WBC welterweight title, defeating David Kamau by second-round KO.
De La Hoya vs. Camacho
On September 13, 1997, De La Hoya defeated Héctor Camacho (63–3–1) by unanimous decision.
De La Hoya vs. Rivera
On December 6, 1997, De La Hoya defeated Wilfredo Rivera by eighth-round TKO.
De La Hoya vs. Charpentier
On June 13, 1998, De La Hoya defeated mandatory challenger Patrick Charpentier by third-round TKO.
De La Hoya vs. Chavez II
On September 18, 1998, De La Hoya fought a rematch with Julio César Chávez (100–2–2) and defeated him by eighth-round TKO.
De La Hoya vs. Quartey
In his next bout, he faced undefeated former WBA Welterweight Champion Ike Quartey (34–0–1) and won by a somewhat disputable split decision. De La Hoya was knocked down once in the fight, while Quartey was down twice. He then defeated Oba Carr (48–2–1) by eleventh-round TKO.
De La Hoya vs. Trinidad unification