Oscar De La Hoya
Oscar de la Hoya | |
|---|---|
| File:Oscardelahoya.jpg | |
| Born | Oscar de la Hoya February 4, 1973 |
| Nationality |  American |
| Other names | Golden Boy |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Light Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in/ 1.79 m |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 42 |
| Wins | 38 |
| Wins by KO | 30 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Oscar de la Hoya (born February 4, 1973) — nicknamed the Golden Boy — is a Mexican American boxer who won a gold medal for the United States Boxing Team at the Barcelona Olympic Games and considered one of boxing's all time greats. Oscar de la Hoya became Ring Magazine's "fighter of the year" in 1995 and Ring Magazine's best "Pound for Pound" fighter in the world in 1997. His fights throughout his entire career have generated a total of almost half a billion dollars in sales alone. He is also the only fighter in the history of boxing to win world titles in six weight classes
During his amateur career, de la Hoya's record was 223-5 with 163 knockouts. He was the United States' top Olympic boxing hope when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died at age 35. On her death bed, he promised her that he would win an Olympic gold medal.
Childhood
De la Hoya was raised as the son of Mexican immigrants in impoverished circumstances in East Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he was the youngest fighter to win first place in Freewill games. He never lost a fight for 4 years, 5 months until he met Marco Rudolf who was the best fighter from Germany at the time. He avenged the loss in the Olympics by winning the gold medal. He had an impressive record in the amateurs with 223 wins, 5 losses and an impressive 163 knockouts, a record matched by only a handful of other boxers in history.
Career
On November 23, 1992, de la Hoya made his pro debut. He went on to win titles in 4 different weight divisions and beat former and current world champions Troy Dorsey (KO 1), Jorge Paez, (KO 2), Genaro Hernandez (TKO 6), John John Molina (W 12), Rafael Ruelas (TKO 2), Julio César Chávez (TKO 4, KO 8), Miguel Angel Gonzalez (W 12), Jesse James Leija (KO 2), Pernell Whitaker (W 12)|(A fight which many onlookers thought he had lost), Hector "Macho" Camacho (W 12), Ike Quartey (W 12), Arturo Gatti (KO 5), Javier Castillejo (W 12), and Fernando Vargas (KO 11). His losses include a controversial majority-decision loss to Félix Trinidad and two decision losses to Shane Mosley. He has been stopped once in his career by the larger and more technical Bernard Hopkins (KO 9).
On September 14, 2002, de la Hoya fought his nemesis "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas. After fiercely competitive early rounds, de la Hoya seized control of the latter half of the fight. In round 11, de la Hoya dropped Vargas with a left hook. Vargas got up at the count of nine, but de la Hoya finished him with a barrage of punches forcing the referee to stop the fight at 1:48 of round 11 (TKO 11). It was later revealed that Vargas had tested positive for steroids in his post-fight drug test.
On May 3, 2003, as part of the Cinco de Mayo festivities, he retained his WBC and WBA world junior middleweight championships when the corner of former world champion Yori Boy Campas threw in the towel, and officially gave de la Hoya a seventh round knockout win. On September 13, he and former rival Mosley met once again, in Las Vegas, and Mosley once again took away de la Hoya's world title belts.
De la Hoya next challenged Felix Sturm for the WBO world middleweight title on June 5, 2004. He was awarded a unanimous decision, to become the first boxer in history to win world titles in 6 different weight divisions.
After that, he hoped to unify that title with the three other world middleweight championships, held by Bernard Hopkins, on September 18. He lost to Hopkins by a ninth round knockout. A left hand to the body sent him to the canvas, knocking de la Hoya out for the first time in his career. Hopkins would later join de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, a boxing promotion firm.
De la Hoya faced WBC world junior middleweight Ricardo Mayorga on May 6, 2006 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many have thought it would be a close fight because de la Hoya was coming off a long layoff. However, he fought much better than expected and won the bout by a TKO in round 6.
De la Hoya did not fight again in 2006, but scheduled a May 5, 2007 bout with Floyd Mayweather, who is the unified welterweight champion and pound-for-pound number one in the world. The fight is scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and on the line will be de la Hoya's WBC Junior Middleweight title. Early Las Vegas odds have Oscar as a 2-to-1 underdog to the younger Mayweather. It has been reported that Oscar will earn at least $25 million for the fight, and Floyd will earn at least $10 million.
Amateur Highlights
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Boxing | ||
 |
1992 Barcelona | Lightweight |
- 1990 Gold Medalist U.S. Olympic Cup
- 1990 Gold Medalist Goodwill Games
- 1990 Gold U.S. National Championships
- 1991 Gold Medalist USA vs. Olympic Festival
- 1992 Gold Medalist USA vs. Boxing National Championships
- 1992 Gold Medalist USA vs. Bulgaria
- 1992 Gold Medalist World Challenge
Amateur record: 223-5 with 163 knockouts
Professional Record
| Record to Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Won 38 (KOs 30) | Lost 4 | Drawn 0 | Total 42 |
| Date | Opponent | W-L-D | Location | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-05-06 | Ricardo Mayorga
|
28-5-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 6 | ||||
| 2004-09-18 | Bernard Hopkins
|
44-2-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | L KO 9 | ||||
| 2004-06-05 | Felix Sturm
|
20-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W UD 12 | ||||
| 2003-09-13 | Shane Mosley
|
38-2-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | L UD 12 | ||||
| 2003-05-03 | Luis Ramon Campas
|
80-5-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 7 | ||||
| 2002-09-14 | Fernando Vargas
|
22-1-0 | Las Vegas, NV, USA | W TKO 11 | ||||
| 2001-06-23 | Javier Castillejo
|
51-4-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W UD 12 | ||||
| 2001-03-24 | Arturo Gatti | 33-4-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 5 | ||||
| 2000-06-17 | Shane Mosley
|
34-0-0 | Los Angeles, California, USA | L SD 12 | ||||
| 2000-02-26 | Derrell Coley | 34-1-2 | New York, New York, USA | W KO 7 | ||||
| 1999-09-18 | Felix Trinidad
|
35-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | L MD 12 | ||||
| 1999-05-22 | Oba Carr
|
48-2-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 11 | ||||
| 1999-02-13 | Ike Quartey
|
34-0-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W SD 12 | ||||
| 1998-09-18 | Julio César Chávez
|
101-2-2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W RTD 8 | ||||
| 1998-06-13 | Patrick Charpentier
|
27-4-1 | El Paso, Texas, USA | W TKO 3 | ||||
| 1997-12-06 | Wilfredo Rivera
|
27-2-1 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA | W TKO 8 | ||||
| 1997-09-13 | Hector Camacho
|
64-3-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1997-06-14 | David Kamau
|
28-1-0 | San Antonio, Texas, USA | W KO 2 | ||||
| 1997-04-12 | Pernell Whitaker
|
40-1-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1997-01-18 | Miguel Angel Gonzalez
|
41-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1996-06-07 | Julio César Chávez
|
97-1-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1996-02-09 | Darryl Tyson | 47-8-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W KO 2 | ||||
| 1995-12-15 | Jesse James Leija
|
30-1-2 | New York, New York, USA | W TKO 2 | ||||
| 1995-09-09 | Genaro Hernandez
|
32-0-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 6 | ||||
| 1995-05-06 | Rafael Ruelas
|
43-1-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 2 | ||||
| 1995-02-18 | Juan Molina
|
36-3-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1994-12-10 | John Avila
|
20-1-1 | Los Angeles, California, USA | W TKO 9 | ||||
| 1994-11-18 | Carl Griffith
|
28-3-2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 3 | ||||
| 1994-07-29 | Jorge Paez
|
53-6-4 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W KO 2 | ||||
| 1994-05-27 | Giorgio Campanella
|
21-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 3 | ||||
| 1994-03-05 | Jimmi Bredahl
|
16-0-0 | Los Angeles, California, USA | W TKO 10 | ||||
| 1993-10-30 | Narciso Valenzuela | 35-13-2 | Phoenix, Arizona, USA | W KO 1 | ||||
| 1993-08-27 | Angelo Nuñez | 10-4-3 | Beverly Hills, California, USA | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-08-14 | Renaldo Carter | 27-4-1 | Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA | W TKO 6 | ||||
| 1993-06-07 | Troy Dorsey | 15-7-4 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 1 | ||||
| 1993-05-08 | Frank Avelar | 15-3-0 | Primm, Nevada, USA | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-04-06 | Mike Grable | 13-1-2 | Rochester, New York, USA | W UD 8 | ||||
| 1993-03-13 | Jeff Mayweather | 23-2-2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-02-06 | Curtis Strong | 14-6-2 | San Diego, California, USA | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-01-03 | Paris Alexander | 15-6-2 | Hollywood, California, USA | W TKO 2 | ||||
| 1992-12-12 | Clifford Hicks | 13-6-0 | Phoenix, Arizona, USA | W KO 1 | ||||
| 1992-11-23 | Lamar Williams | 5-1-1 | Inglewood, California, USA | W KO 1 |
Pay-Per-View History
Rafael Ruelas( 5/95) 330,000 buys = $9.9 million
Genaro Hernandez(9/95) 220,000 buys = $6.6 million
M.A. Gonzalez(1/97) 345,000 buys = $12.1 million
Pernell Whitaker(4/97) 720,000 buys = $28.8 million
Hector Camacho(9/97) 560,000 buys = $22.4 million
Wilfredo Rivera(12/97) 240,000 buys = $9.6 million
J.C Chavez II( 9/98) 525,000 buys = $23.6 million
Ike Quartey( 2/99) 570,000 buys =$25.7 million
Felix Trinidad(9/99) 1.4 million buys = $71.4 million
Shane Mosley(6/00) 590,000 buys = $29.5 million
Javier Castillejo(6/01) 400,000 buys = $16.0 million
Fernando Vargas(9/02) 935,000 buys = $47.8 million
Yory Boy Campas(5/03) 350,000 buys = $17.5 million
Shane Mosley II( 9/03) 950,000 buys = $48.4 million
Felix Sturm(6/04) 380,000 buys = $19.0 million
Bernard Hopkins(9/04) 1 million buys = $56.0 million
Totals: 9,515,000 buys, generating $444.3 million.[1]
Life Outside the Ring
De la Hoya is one of the favorite boxers of American cable channel HBO, where he formerly produced a popular Spanish-language boxing show called Boxeo de Oro. De la Hoya's interests outside the ring include architecture, acting, fashion designing, and singing. He designed his own house in Big Bear Lake, California, has one clothing line through Mervyn's department stores), and released a Grammy-nominated CD, entitled Oscar de la Hoya. Released through EMI International on October 10, 2000, the self-titled CD is a Latin Pop album with thirteen tracks in both English and Spanish.
He married Puerto Rican singing superstar Millie Corretjer on October 5, 2001, and lives in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico. Their first child, Oscar Gabriel, was born on December 29, 2005, in Puerto Rico. De la Hoya has three other children: Jacob (b. February 18, 1998) by a woman whose identity is unknown; Devon de la Hoya (b. November 30, 1998) by former Las Vegas show girl Angelicque Mcqueen, and Atiana Cecilia (b. March 29, 1999) by actress Shanna Moakler.
A Santa Barbara woman brought civil charges against De La Hoya for allegedly raping her at his condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 1996 when she was 15. De La Hoya denies the rape but says he settled with the woman "for a very low amount of money."
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 April 2005, de la Hoya and a Southern California real estate developer, Highridge Partners, formed a real estate investment partnership, named Golden Boy Partners, to invest in Latino neighborhoods.
In September 2005, de la Hoya's wallet was stolen by a pickpocket. The wallet contained a $1 food stamp coupon, a reminder of his poverty-stricken childhood in east Los Angeles which was very important to him.
See also
- List of Olympic medalists in boxing
- List of lightweight boxing champions
- List of male boxers
- List of WBC world champions
- Ring Magazine pound for pound
References
- ^ Jim Cawkwell. "The Standard". Retrieved 2007-01-10.
External links
