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| Oscar De La Hoya | |
 |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Oscar De La Hoya |
| Nickname(s) | The Golden Boy |
| Rated at | Light Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft. 10 (177 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | February 4, 1973 |
| Birth place | East Los Angeles,CA |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 44 |
| Wins | 39 |
| Wins by KO | 30 |
| Losses | 5 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
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, but it was Oscar who took his boxing talent to superstar status. De La Hoya became 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 way of knockout, with only 5 losses. He won the United States' only boxing gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, by knocking down his opponent; a win which he dedicated to his deceased mother.[4] De La Hoya is also the founder of 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 only a handful of boxers in history who have taken on promotional responsibilities while still active.[5]
On November 23, 1992, De La Hoya made his professional debut, and in his twelfth professional fight, he won his first title, stopping Jimmy Bredahl in (TKO 10) to win the WBO junior lightweight title.[6] He moved up a division several fights later, defeating Jorge Paez (KO 2) to win the WBO lightweight title, and in his first title defense he defeated former world champion John-John Molina (UD 12). Despite his early success, De La Hoya was criticized, with many dismissing his opposition as weak and noting that he had been knocked down several times early in fights.
On June 7, 1996, Oscar de la Hoya fought Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez for his WBC Light Welterweight championship. De la Hoya, the underdog, beat Chavez by TKO (Referee Stoppage) after the 3rd round. A rematch took place two years later, seeing the aging Chavez once again stopped, but in the eighth.
In another career defining fight, 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 materialized.
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.
A 2003 rematch with Mosley resulted in another, this time unanimous, decision in favor of Shane Mosley. Compubox had De La Hoya landing more punches. [7]
De La Hoya did not fight for the next 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 rumored that the rivalry began when Vargas was angered by De La Hoya laughing at him after he fell into a snowbank. Vargas called out De La Hoya for many years but Oscar said he would never fight him. Eventually however, Vargas's trash talking made De La Hoya take the fight. The fight was originally 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. For the first six rounds, the fight was even, with Vargas landing punches along 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. Then 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 win of De La Hoya's career. Vargas later tested positive for stanozolol after the fight.
De La Hoya then defended his unified title against Yori Boy Campas (KO 6), before facing Shane Mosley in a rematch. The rematch, billed as "Retribution" and staged at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, was much more of a boxing match than their first match, and many rounds were close, but Mosley won a close unananimous decision, with all judges scoring the bout 115-113 in his favor. Mosley would later admit to using performance-enhancing drugs from Balco for this bout, saying he thought they were legal supplements. [8]
De la Hoya next challenged Felix Sturm for the WBO world middleweight title on June 5, 2004. Although it was a very 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 statistics counted Sturm as landing 234 of 541 punches, while counting De La Hoya as landing 188 of 792. [9]
De la Hoya then challenged for the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight championship and unsuccessfully defended his WBO title against modern legend 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 fought at a catchweight of 158 pounds, many thought De La Hoya was way too small for the weight class and Hopkins was considered a heavy favorite.
Despite the odds and 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 this De La Hoya made over thirty million dollars from the fight.
De La Hoya then took the longest layoff of his career, 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, but when they fought on May 6, 2006, De La Hoya knocked Mayorga down within the first minute of the fight with a left hook and knocked him out in the sixth round to take his tenth world title.
In early 2007, De La Hoya signed to defend his title against WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the man considered to be, pound for pound, the best fighter in the world. The fight sold out in three hours, and was hyped by a twelve city press tour and the critically acclaimed HBO series "De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7". Mayweather was considered a two to one favorite in the fight.
The fight finally took place on May 5, 2007. De La Hoya pressed the fight through out all the rounds, doing his best when he used his lead left jab, De La Hoya did rally 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 bout for a prospective September rematch with Mayweather. De La Hoya showed a more relaxed style in the fight throwing a constant jab and always staying on his toes showing no signs of fatigue as he did in other fights and opened a gash near Forbes' eye in the sixth round.
On June 6, 2008, Floyd Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing, effectively ending any talks of a rematch.
De La Hoya and Pound For Pound superstar Manny Pacquiao are scheduled to fight on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., the bout will be a 12-round, non-title fight contested at the 147-pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao goes into the fight recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits have speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya.[10]
Training for the fight Oscar hired trainers Angelo Dundee, Nacho Beristain, and young boxing talent Edwin Valero. Oscar told the news that his team is unbeatable. But Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, said, "No one is going to be able to help Oscar pull the trigger when he faces Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6." While Oscar is favored to win, this is perhaps the most anticipated fight of the year and, with the help of HBO's series chronicling the weeks leading up to the bout, could even break pay-per-view records.
Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. The total gate revenues were said to be nearly $17 million. That amount would give the bout the second largest gate revenue in boxing history (after the De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. fight in May 5, 2007, which generated $18.4 million in gate revenue).
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Boxing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | Lightweight | |
Amateur record: 224-5
| Record to Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Won 39 (KOs 30) | Lost 5 | Drawn 0 | Total 44 |
| Date | Opponent | W-L-D | Location | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-05-03 | Steve Forbes | 33-5-0 | Carson, California, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 2007-05-05 | Floyd Mayweather Jr.
|
37-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | L SD 12 | ||||
| 2006-05-06 | Ricardo Mayorga
|
28-5-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 6 | ||||
| 2004-09-18 | Bernard Hopkins
|
44-2-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | L KO 9 | ||||
| 2004-06-05 | Felix Sturm
|
20-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 2003-09-13 | Shane Mosley
|
38-2-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | L UD 12 | ||||
| 2003-05-03 | Luis Ramon Campas
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80-5-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 7 | ||||
| 2002-09-14 | Fernando Vargas
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22-1-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 11 | ||||
| 2001-06-23 | Javier Castillejo
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51-4-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 2001-03-24 | Arturo Gatti | 33-4-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 5 | ||||
| 2000-06-17 | Shane Mosley
|
34-0-0 | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | L SD 12 | ||||
| 2000-02-26 | Derrell Coley | 34-1-2 | New York, New York, U.S. | W KO 7 | ||||
| 1999-09-18 | Felix Trinidad
|
35-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | L MD 12 | ||||
| 1999-05-22 | Oba Carr
|
48-2-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 11 | ||||
| 1999-02-13 | Ike Quartey
|
34-0-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W SD 12 | ||||
| 1998-09-18 | Julio César Chávez
|
101-2-2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W RTD 8 | ||||
| 1998-06-13 | Patrick Charpentier
|
27-4-1 | El Paso, Texas, U.S. | W TKO 3 | ||||
| 1997-12-06 | Wilfredo Rivera
|
27-2-1 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | W TKO 8 | ||||
| 1997-09-13 | Hector Camacho
|
64-3-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1997-06-14 | David Kamau
|
28-1-0 | San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | W KO 2 | ||||
| 1997-04-12 | Pernell Whitaker
|
40-1-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1997-01-18 | Miguel Angel Gonzalez
|
41-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1996-06-07 | Julio César Chávez
|
97-1-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1996-02-09 | Darryl Tyson | 47-8-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W KO 2 | ||||
| 1995-12-15 | Jesse James Leija
|
30-1-2 | New York, New York, U.S. | W TKO 2 | ||||
| 1995-09-09 | Genaro Hernandez
|
32-0-1 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 6 | ||||
| 1995-05-06 | Rafael Ruelas
|
43-1-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 2 | ||||
| 1995-02-18 | Juan Molina
|
36-3-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W UD 12 | ||||
| 1994-12-10 | John Avila
|
20-1-1 | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | W TKO 9 | ||||
| 1994-11-18 | Carl Griffith
|
28-3-2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 3 | ||||
| 1994-07-29 | Jorge Paez
|
53-6-4 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W KO 2 | ||||
| 1994-05-27 | Giorgio Campanella
|
21-0-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 3 | ||||
| 1994-03-05 | Jimmi Bredahl
|
16-0-0 | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | W TKO 10 | ||||
| 1993-10-30 | Narciso Valenzuela | 35-13-2 | Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | W KO 1 | ||||
| 1993-08-27 | Angelo Nuñez | 10-4-3 | Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-08-14 | Renaldo Carter | 27-4-1 | Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, U.S. | W TKO 6 | ||||
| 1993-06-07 | Troy Dorsey | 15-7-4 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 1 | ||||
| 1993-05-08 | Frank Avelar | 15-3-0 | Primm, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-04-06 | Mike Grable | 13-1-2 | Rochester, New York, U.S. | W UD 8 | ||||
| 1993-03-13 | Jeff Mayweather | 23-2-2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-02-06 | Curtis Strong | 14-6-2 | San Diego, California, U.S. | W TKO 4 | ||||
| 1993-01-03 | Paris Alexander | 15-6-2 | Hollywood, California, U.S. | W TKO 2 | ||||
| 1992-12-12 | Clifford Hicks | 13-6-0 | Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | W KO 1 | ||||
| 1992-11-23 | Lamar Williams | 5-1-1 | Inglewood, California, U.S. | W KO 1 |
Became the wealthiest fighter of all-time after fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Totals: 11,665,000 buys, generating $594.3 million.[11]
De la Hoya has 5 children:
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 thirteen 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: son Oscar Gabriel (b. December 29, 2005)[12] and daughter Nina Lauren Nenitte (b. December 29, 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico).[13]
In 2002 De la Hoya produced a boxing show on American cable channel HBO: a Spanish-language boxing show called Boxeo de Oro.
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[14].
In September 2007, De La Hoya's company Golden Boy Enterprises acquired The Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, World Boxing Magazine and Pro Wrestling Illustrated from Kappa Publishing Group.
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 has 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."[15] 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.[16] However, in May 2008, Dravnel sued De La Hoya for slander, but she dropped the lawsuit after experts determined the photographs had been digitally doctored.[17]
On May 1, 2007, the Staples Center sports arena announced that a seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Oscar De La Hoya will join similar tributes to Los Angeles sports stars Magic Johnson and Wayne Gretzky at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.[18]
In February 2008, Golden Boy acquired a 25% stake of Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo, along with Brener International Group. [1]
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.[19]
In June, 2008, De La Hoya published his autobiography entitled "American Son".[20]
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.[21]
A seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Oscar De La Hoya was unveiled outside Staples Center on Monday December 2, 2008. [2]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Oscar De La Hoya |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Roy Jones Jr. |
Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1995 |
Succeeded by Evander Holyfield |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Andreas Zülow |
25th Olympics Boxing Lightweight Gold Medalist August 1992 |
Succeeded by {{{after}}} |
| Preceded by Jimmi Bredahl |
WBO Super Featherweight champion March 5, 1994 - 1994 Vacates title |
Succeeded by Regilio Tuur |
| Preceded by Giovanni Parisi Vacated |
5th World Lightweight Champion (WBO) July 29, 1994 - 1996 Vacates title |
Succeeded by Artur Grigorian |
| Preceded by Rafael Ruelas |
11th World Lightweight Champion (IBF) May 6, 1995 - July, 1995 Stripped of title |
Succeeded by Philip Holiday |
| Preceded by Julio César Chávez |
24th World Light Welterweight Champion (WBC) June 7, 1996 - 1997 Vacates title |
Succeeded by Kostya Tszyu |
| Preceded by Pernell Whitaker |
25th World Welterweight Champion (WBC) April 12, 1997 - September 18, 1999 |
Succeeded by Felix Trinidad |
| Preceded by Felix Trinidad Vacated |
WBC Welterweight Champion March 03, 2000– June 17, 2000 |
Succeeded by Shane Mosley |
| Preceded by Javier Castillejo |
WBC Super Welterweight Champion June 23, 2001 - September 13, 2003 |
|
| Preceded by Felix Trinidad Vacated |
WBA Light Middleweight Super Champion September 14, 2002 - September 13, 2003 |
|
| Preceded by Felix Sturm |
WBO Middleweight Champion June 5, 2004 - September 18, 2004 |
Succeeded by Bernard Hopkins |
| Preceded by Ricardo Mayorga |
WBC Super Welterweight Champion May 6, 2006 - May 5, 2007 |
Succeeded by Floyd Mayweather Jr. |
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