Oscar De La Hoya (; born February 4, 1973) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. He holds dual American and Mexican citizenship. Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", De La Hoya represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in the lightweight division shortly after graduating from James A. Garfield High School.
He was born in Los Angeles, California, and comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr. and brother Joel Jr. were all boxers. De La Hoya was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine in 1995, and was their top-rated fighter in the world, pound for pound, in 1997 and 1998. He officially announced his retirement in 2009, after a professional career spanning sixteen years.
As a professional, De La Hoya won ten world titles in six different weight classes, including the lineal championship in three weight classes. He also 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. In 2002, De La Hoya founded Golden Boy Promotions, a combat sport promotional firm. 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.
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Amateur career
De La Hoya's amateur career included 234 wins, 163 by knockout, and six losses. Of those six losses, two came at the hands of Shane Mosley. In 1989, he won the National Golden Gloves title in the bantamweight division. In 1990, at the age of 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, was terminally ill with breast cancer. She died in October 1990, expressing the hope that her son would one day become an Olympic gold medalist.
With the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona approaching, 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 Mexican boxer Julio Gonzalez, De La Hoya defeated German boxer Marco Rudolph to win gold. The U.S. media publicized his quest to fulfill his mother's dying wish and dubbed him with the nickname "The Golden Boy", which has remained with him throughout his career.
Highlights
- 1989 Gold Medalist National Golden Gloves
- 1990 Gold Medalist US National Championships
- 1990 Gold Medalist Goodwill Games
- 1991 Gold Medalist US National Championships
- 1991 Gold Medalist US Olympic Festival
- 1992 Gold Medalist World Championships
- 1992 Gold Medalist Olympic Games
- Amateur record: 227-3 (unofficial)
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Professional career
Super featherweight
On November 23, 1992 De La Hoya made his professional debut by scoring a first-round TKO victory. 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 super featherweight 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. In his first title defense, 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.
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. 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 a bad cut suffered by Chavez. Until their rematch in 1998, Chávez stated that De La Hoya did not defeat him since the fight was stopped. 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
On April 12, 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. De La Hoya won a disputed 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.
On September 13, 1997, he defeated Héctor Camacho (63-3-1) by unanimous decision. On September 8, 1998, he fought a rematch with Julio César Chávez (100-2-2) and defeated him by eighth-round TKO. 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
After seven defenses of his lineal and WBC welterweight titles, De La Hoya fought rival and IBF Champion Félix Trinidad (35-0) on September 18, 1999, in one of the biggest pay-per-view events in history, setting a record for a non-heavyweight fight. Oscar dominated the vast majority of the first nine rounds, staying just outside Trinidad's range while generating much success with his stiff jab and blitzing combinations. But in the last 2-3 rounds of the fight, heeding the strict instructions of his corner who felt that De La Hoya was way ahead on the scorecards, De La Hoya shut down much of his offense and evaded trading with Trinidad. De La Hoya virtually gave away the last couple of rounds. Though landing well over 100 more punches, Trinidad was ultimately awarded a majority decision. The judges scorecards came under question after the decision. Fans and boxing analysts called for a rematch, which never happened.
De La Hoya vs. Mosley
On February 26, 2000, De La Hoya knocked out Derrell Coley (34-1-2) in a WBC eliminator. The WBC awarded De La Hoya their welterweight title, which he lost, to Shane Mosley (34-0) by a split decision on 17 June 2000, giving De La Hoya the first sound defeat of his pro career. The fight was a disputed decision, with one judge scoring the fight 115-113 for De La Hoya, and the other two scoring it 116-112 and 115-113 for Mosley.
De La Hoya took promoter Bob Arum to court in the fall of 2000, trying to break his contract with the promoter. The courts ruled in favor of De La Hoya in February 2001. Tempers flared during the battle and reached a low in March 2001, when De La Hoya called Arum racist in a newspaper interview and then apologized for the remarks.
"I don't have blue eyes and I am not white, but a Mexican arriving on the cusp of fame, and that is what they do not support," De La Hoya told La Opinion in 2001. "Bob Arum's people hope I lose because they can't see a Mexican above them, and also that he defeated one of the biggest Jews to come out of Harvard."
De La Hoya defeated Arturo Gatti (33-4) by fifth-round TKO on March 24, 2001.
Light middleweight
He then moved up to light middleweight, challenging the lineal and WBC champion Javier Castillejo. De La Hoya dominated the fight, winning almost every round and knocking Castillejo (51-4) down with ten seconds to go to win the title by a unanimous decision.
Rivalry with Fernando Vargas
De La Hoya did not fight for the 15 months and in this time the rivalry between him and WBA champion "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas (22-1) grew. They knew each other as amateurs and it is said the rivalry began when Vargas was angered by De La Hoya laughing at him after he fell into a snowbank. De La Hoya said he would never fight him. Eventually, however, De La Hoya accepted a match. The fight was scheduled for early 2002, but De La Hoya had to withdraw because of a hand injury.
The unification bout, labeled "Bad Blood," finally took place on September 14, 2002, at the Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip. The fight was even for the first six rounds, with Vargas landing punches on the ropes in the odd rounds, while De La Hoya outboxed him in the even rounds. De La Hoya took over the fight in the seventh round and hurt Vargas with a left hook in the tenth. In the next round, De La Hoya knocked Vargas down with a left hook and stopped him moments later. The win is widely considered to be the biggest of De La Hoya's career. Vargas tested positive for stanozolol after the fight.
De La Hoya vs. Mosley II
De La Hoya defended his unified title against Yori Boy Campas (80-5) with a routine seventh round stoppage then faced Shane Mosley (38-2) in a rematch. The fight, billed as "Retribution" and staged at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, was more of a boxing match than their first encounter, and while some rounds were close, De La Hoya's game plan utilizing his jab seemed to be paying off, leaving Mosley visually frustrated. It was De La Hoya who seemed to be landing the cleaner, more effective punches, and obliterated Mosley in Compubox, landing over 100 more. But judges apparently didn't see it that way awarding Mosley with the controversial unanimous decision. Mosley was later connected to the BALCO Labs steroid scandal. Jeff Novitzky, a lead investigator on the BALCO case, reported that documents seized from the lab show that Mosley received "the clear" and "the cream," both designer steroids. Mosley reportedly began his doping regimen prior to his rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley would later admit to using performance-enhancing drugs from BALCO for this bout, saying he thought they were legal supplements.
Middleweight
Sturm vs. De La Hoya
De la Hoya next challenged Felix Sturm (20-0) for the WBO middleweight title on June 5, 2004, with the winner also getting a shot at the undisputed world middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins. De La Hoya was awarded a unanimous decision, becoming the first boxer in history to win world titles in six different weight divisions. All three judges scored the bout 115-113 in favor of De La Hoya. The decision was very controversial, far more so than his decision wins over Pernell Whitaker or Ike Quartey: Whereas the Whitaker & Quartey fights were considered close bouts that could've gone either way or called a draw, the feeling from most is that De La Hoya flat-out lost to Sturm. Compubox counted Sturm as landing 234 of 541 punches, while counting De La Hoya as landing 188 of 792. There had been some rumblings throughout the boxing community that the decision was made to insure that De La Hoya would fight Hopkins in a mega-dollar fight that would've drawn more money than a Hopkins-Sturm matchup would. Iain Darke of Sky Sports said the decision looked "tailor made" to set up De La Hoya versus Hopkins. "(De La Hoya) got the benefit of high charity," Darke said. Sturm & his promotional team, Universum Box-Promotion, filed a protest with the Nevada State Athletic Commission over the decision, but it was to no avail, and the decision still stands today.
De La Hoya vs. Hopkins
De La Hoya fought Bernard Hopkins (44-2-1) in a unification match on September 18, 2004 in Las Vegas. Hopkins held the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight titles, was recognized as lineal and The Ring champion, and was considered by many to be the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. Although the fight was at a catchweight of 158 pounds (72 kg), many thought De La Hoya was too small for the weight class and Hopkins was considered a heavy favorite.
Several days before the fight, De la Hoya's hand was cut when his hand wraps were being cut off after training. The cut required eleven stitches.
De La Hoya fought a tactical fight. After eight rounds, De La Hoya was ahead 77-75 on one scorecard. He was behind 78-74 and 79-73 on the other two scorecards. In the ninth round, Hopkins knocked out De La Hoya with a left hook to the body. It was the first time in De La Hoya's career that he was knocked out.
De la Hoya later said he couldn't get up because the pain of a well placed livershot is unbearable. Despite losing, De La Hoya made over $30 million from the fight.
Bob Arum claimed De La Hoya took a dive. Although it may not have mattered as it appeared Hopkins was going to win the bout one way or another. Like Mosley, Hopkins would get a job with Golden Boy Promotions.
De La Hoya responded, "So now he's going to attack me left and right. He's going to keep saying that I took a dive against Hopkins and that I'm in this only for the money. I can't stop him from saying those things. I think he's hurt. He's hurt because I chose not to stay with him until the end of my career.
Comeback
De La Hoya vs. Mayorga
De La Hoya took a layoff of 20 months before signing to fight WBC light middleweight titleholder Ricardo Mayorga (27-5-1). In the buildup to the fight, Mayorga insulted everything from De La Hoya's sexuality to his wife and child, but when they fought on May 6, 2006, De La Hoya knocked Mayorga down in the first minute of the fight with a left hook. He knocked him out in the sixth round to take his tenth world title.
De La Hoya vs. Mayweather Jr.
In early 2007, De La Hoya signed to defend his title against WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (37-0-0). De La Hoya was a two to one underdog in the fight.
The fight took place on May 5, 2007. De La Hoya pressed throughout all the rounds, doing his best when he used his left jab. Mayweather controlled the later rounds and was ultimately rewarded with a split decision victory in front of a sold-out arena at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Chuck Giampi saw the fight 116-112 for Mayweather, while Jerry Roth also scored it for Mayweather at 115-113. Tom Kaczmarcek ruled for De La Hoya 115-113. The Associated Press had Mayweather winning 116-112.
Although Oscar was the obvious aggressor, chasing Mayweather and throwing many combinations, Mayweather dominated the stats, according to Compubox, connecting on 207 of his 481 total punches thrown. De La Hoya threw more punches--587--but landed only 122.
On May 3, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, De La Hoya fought Steve Forbes (33-5) in a tuneup for a possible rematch with Mayweather. De La Hoya showed a more relaxed style, throwing a constant jab and always staying on his toes. He opened a cut near Forbes' eye in the sixth round.
On June 6, 2008, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced his retirement from boxing, effectively ending talk of a rematch.
De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao
De La Hoya faced Manny Pacquiao (47-3-2) on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., the bout was a twelve-round, non-title fight at the 147-pound (67 kg) welterweight limit. Although Manny Pacquiao went into the fight recognized as the leading pound for pound boxer in the world, some pundits speculated that 147 pounds could have been too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya. However, Pacquiao's trainer Roach was confident of a victory as he stated that De La Hoya could no longer "pull the trigger" at that stage of his career. De La Hoya, who was favored to win the bout due to his size advantage, was expected to be the heavier of the two on fight night. However, though Pacquiao weighed 142 pounds (64 kg) and De La Hoya 145 pounds (66 kg) at the official weigh-in on Friday, De La Hoya entered the ring at 147 pounds to Pacquiao's 148.5 pounds (67.4 kg).
De La Hoya took a beating and his corner stopped the fight after the eighth round. Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight 80-71 and the other judge scoring it at 79-72. After the bout, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach stated, "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot." Confirming Roach's pre-fight predictions that he'd grown too old, De La Hoya crossed the ring to Pacquiao's corner after the bout was stopped and told Roach, "You're right, Freddie. I don't have it anymore." When asked by reporters whether he would continue fighting, De La Hoya responded, "My heart still wants to fight, that's for sure," De La Hoya said. "But when your physical doesn't respond, what can you do? I have to be smart and make sure I think about my future plans." During the first episode of the HBO 24/7 Pacquiao-Hatton series, Roach had said he saw IV marks on De La Hoya's arm, pointing out that he needed to be rehydrated surgically as a last resort.
Retirement
De La Hoya announced his retirement on April 14, 2009, ending any speculation about a potential fight with Julio César Chávez Jr.
Personal life
De La Hoya began dating actress and Miss USA 1995 titleholder Shanna Moakler in October 1997. They became engaged prior to the 1999 birth of their daughter, Atiana De La Hoya (born March 29, 1999). In September 2000, the relationship abruptly ended when Moakler, who was at home watching the Latin Grammy Awards on television, saw De La Hoya escorting another woman to the show, that woman was Puerto Rican singer Millie Corretjer.
In 2000, he released a Grammy-nominated CD, entitled Oscar De La Hoya. Released through EMI International. The self-titled CD is a Latin pop album with 13 tracks in both English and Spanish written by Diane Warren and the Bee Gees.
On October 5, 2001, De La Hoya married Millie Corretjer. They have two children together: Oscar Gabriel de la Hoya (born December 29, 2005) and Nina Lauren Nenitte de la Hoya (born December 29, 2007). He also has three other children from previous relationships.
On December 12, 2002, the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles granted De La Hoya Mexican citizenship. De La Hoya stated: "I've always felt that my blood is Mexican."
In 2004, he debuted a clothing line of casual, and active-inspired apparel through Mervyns department stores. In the summer of 2004, De La Hoya starred in and hosted a boxing reality television series on Fox and Fox Sports Net titled The Next Great Champ.
In 2005, Golden Boy Enterprises announced the formation of Golden Boy Partners, a company focused on urban development in Latino communities.
In 2006, De La Hoya authorized a children's picture book titled Super Oscar published by Simon & Schuster and released in his name. The book was written by noted children's author Mark Shulman and illustrated by children's illustrator Lisa Kopelke. The book tells the story of young Oscar as a daydreamer, who uses his great physical ability to prepare an elaborate picnic for his entire neighborhood in just fifteen minutes. Written in English and Spanish, the book received unanimously positive reviews from the publishing review journals. Super Oscar was selected as the winner of the 2007 Latino Book Awards Best Bilingual Children's Picture Book of the year.
In September, 2007, De La Hoya's company Golden Boy Enterprises acquired The Ring, KO Magazine, and World Boxing Magazine from Kappa Publishing Group.
On May 1, 2007, the Staples Center sports arena announced that a 7-foot (2.1 m) bronze statue of Oscar De La Hoya would join similar tributes to Los Angeles sports stars Magic Johnson and Wayne Gretzky at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The statue was unveiled on December 2, 2008.
In February, 2008, Golden Boy acquired a 25% stake of Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo, along with Brener International Group.
De La Hoya started a charitable foundation to help underprivileged youth to education. In 2008, he donated $3.5 million to the De La Hoya Animo Charter High School.
In June 2008, De La Hoya published his autobiography entitled "American Son".
He is a member of the 2008 United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
Oscar De La Hoya is on the front covers of the PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP versions of EASports' Fight Night Round 3.
In 2008, De La Hoya starred in a commercial alongside several Mexican boxing champions for Pronosticos lottery in Mexico. The 300 film inspired commercial featured the Mexican champions battling giants and other large creatures.
In early 2011, De La Hoya visited U.S. military personnel in Kuwait and Iraq under the auspices of the USO, holding boxing clinics and greeting the troops.
Controversies
Rape allegation
De La Hoya was accused in a lawsuit of rape in 1998. The lawsuit, filed in San Bernardino (Calif.) County Superior Court, alleged that De La Hoya raped a girl, who was 15 at the time, in a hotel room in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in June 1996. The case was settled out of court in 2001.
Cross dressing
In late 2007, photographs featuring De La Hoya cross-dressed in company of a woman not his wife were posted on a tabloid website and received extensive publicity across the internet. De la Hoya denied the authenticity of the photos. His lawyer stated, "The photographs depicting Mr. De La Hoya's image that were posted online today by an obscure paparazzi Web site are fake. Many of the Web site's viewers (as reflected in postings on the site) identified the photos as 'a really bad photoshop job.' Unfortunately, with today's technology, anyone can make any photo seem like something other than it is." In September 2007, Mila Dravnel, the woman who sold the photographs, recanted her allegations against De La Hoya and denied the authenticity of the photographs. However, in May 2008, Dravnel sued De La Hoya for slander, but she dropped the lawsuit after experts suggested the photographs had been digitally doctored. However, in De La Hoya's August 2011 interview with Univision, he confirmed that it was indeed him in the leaked 2007 photos.
Substance abuse
In May 2011, De La Hoya acknowledged he has a problem, but the nature of the issue was not revealed. "After doing an honest evaluation of myself, I recognize that there are certain issues that I need to work on. Like everyone, I have my flaws, and I do not want to be one of those people that is afraid to admit and address those flaws." He underwent treatment at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California for his alcoholism.
In September 2013, just a few days before the Golden Boy promoted match of Floyd Mayweather vs. Saúl Álvarez, De La Hoya announced that he was returning to a drug and alcohol treatment facility thus missing the biggest fight of his young fighter's career.
In January 2017, De La Hoya was arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena, California.
Professional boxing record
Titles in boxing
Major world titles
- WBO super featherweight champion (130 lbs)
- WBO lightweight champion (135 lbs)
- IBF lightweight champion
- WBC light welterweight Champion (140 lbs)
- WBC welterweight Champion (147 lbs) (2×)
- WBC light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (2×)
- WBA (Super) light middleweight champion
- WBO middleweight champion (160 lbs)
Minor world titles
- IBA welterweight champion
- IBA light middleweight champion
The Ring magazine titles
- The Ring light middleweight champion
Lineal titles
- Lineal light welterweight champion
- Lineal welterweight champion
- Lineal light middleweight champion
Pay-per-view bouts
Totals (approximate): 14,000,000 buys and $700,000,000 in revenue.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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