Oscar De La Hoya (born February 4, 1973) — nicknamed "The Golden Boy" — is an American boxer and promoter who won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr., and brother Joel Jr. were all boxers. De La Hoya was Ring Magazine's "Fighter of the Year" in 1995 and Ring Magazine's top-rated Pound for Pound fighter in the world in 1997. De La Hoya has defeated seventeen world champions and has won ten world titles in six different weight classes.[1][2] He has also generated more money than any other boxer in the history of the sport.[3]
De La Hoya's amateur career included 223 wins, 163 by knockout, with only 5 losses. He won the United States' only boxing gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, a win which he dedicated to his deceased mother.[4] De La Hoya founded Golden Boy Promotions, a combat sport promotional firm. He is the first American of Hispanic descent to own a national boxing promotional firm and one of the few boxers to take on promotional responsibilities while still active.[5]
Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker and Felix Trinidad
On June 7, 1996, Oscar de la Hoya fought Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez for the WBC Light Welterweight championship. De la Hoya, the underdog with a record of 21-0 with 20 KO's, beat Chavez by TKO (Referee Stoppage) after the 3rd round. A rematch took place two years later, seeing the aging Chavez once again stopped in the eighth.
On March 12, 1997, De La Hoya fought the man regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in the world, Pernell Whitaker and by winning a 12 round decision, became regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in the world and the WBC welterweight champion.
De La Hoya, then the WBC welterweight champion, fought rival and IBF champion Felix Trinidad on September 18, 1999, in one of the biggest pay-per-view events in history, setting a record for a non-heavyweight fight. Trinidad was ultimately awarded a majority decision. Fans and boxing analysts called for a rematch, which never happened.
Moving up to Junior Middleweight
De La Hoya fought as a welterweight three more times after the Trinidad fight, including a controversial decision loss to Shane Mosley, and a TKO of Arturo Gatti in round five. He then moved up to junior middleweight, challenging the Spanish WBC junior middleweight champion Javier Castillejo. De La Hoya dominated the fight, winning almost every round and knocking him down with ten seconds to go to win the title.
Rivalry with Vargas
De La Hoya did not fight for the 15 months, and in this time the rivalry between him and WBA junior middleweight champion "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas 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 in Las Vegas. 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 defended his unified title against Yori Boy Campas (KO 6), before facing Shane Mosley 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 many rounds were close. Nevertheless, Mosley won a close unanimous decision, with all judges scoring the bout 115-113 in his favor, even though Compubox showed that De La Hoya had landed more punches. Mosley would later admit to using performance-enhancing drugs from Balco for this bout, saying he thought they were legal supplements. [6]
Moving up to Middleweight
De la Hoya next challenged Felix Sturm for the WBO world middleweight title on June 5, 2004. Although it was a controversial decision, he was awarded a unanimous decision and became 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. Compubox counted Sturm as landing 234 of 541 punches, while counting De La Hoya as landing 188 of 792. [7]
De La Hoya-Hopkins
De la Hoya challenged for the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight championship and unsuccessfully defended his WBO title against Bernard Hopkins, then universally considered the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, on September 18, 2004 in Las Vegas. Although the fight was at a catchweight of 158 pounds, many thought De La Hoya was too small for the weight class, and Hopkins was considered a heavy favorite.
Despite the fact that he was fighting with a cut on his left palm, De La Hoya fought a smart fight and was actually ahead 77-75 on one scorecard in the ninth round when Hopkins hit him a left hook to the liver, knocking De La Hoya down and resulting in the first knockout of De La Hoya's career. De la Hoya later said that he wasn't dizzy at all, but that 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.
The Comeback Against Mayorga
De La Hoya took a layoff of twenty months, before signing to fight WBC junior middleweight champion Ricardo Mayorga. In the buildup to the fight, Mayorga insulted everything from De La Hoya's sexuality to his wife and child,[8] 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.[9]
"The World Awaits"
In early 2007, De La Hoya signed to defend his title against WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the man considered to be the best fighter in the world. Tickets sold out within three hours. De la Hoya was a two to one favorite in the fight.
The fight took place on May 5, 2007. De La Hoya pressed through out all the rounds, doing his best when he used his lead left jab. De La Hoya rallied in the final round, but Mayweather was awarded the split decision.
On May 3, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, De La Hoya fought Steve Forbes 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.[10] He opened a cut near Forbes' eye in the sixth round.[11]
On June 6, 2008, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced his retirement from boxing, effectively ending talk of a rematch.
The Dream Match
De La Hoya was scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., the bout was a 12-round, non-title fight at the 147-pound 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.[12] However, Pacquiao's trainer Freddy Roach was confident of a victory as he stated that De La Hoya could no longer "pull the trigger" at that stage in his career.[13] 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 and De La Hoya 145 at the official weigh-in on Friday,[14] De La Hoya entered the ring at 147 pounds to Pacquiao's 148.5 .[15]
De La Hoya lost the fight by way of TKO after 8 rounds in a dominant performance by Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80-71 and one scoring it at 79-72.[16] After the bout trainer Freddy Roach stated, "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot."[17] 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."[18] 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."
De La Hoya vs Chavez Jr.
Julio Cesar Chavez's son, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has reportedly called out De La Hoya to fight him to avenge his father's loss to De La Hoya in his honor. Rumors have been swirling around that this fight actually might happen. The dream location might possibly be the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Many analysts are pointing out that this is the only megafight left for De La Hoya. Other potential fights for De La Hoya include a rematch with Felix Trinidad, another rematch with Shane Mosley, a fight with Zab Judah, and a fight with Joshua ClotteySource : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_de_la_Hoya