Oscar De La Hoya (born July 19, 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. De La Hoya comes
from a boxing family. His grandfather, father and
brother 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. The fights throughout
his career have generated an estimated half a
billion dollars in fight sales alone. De La Hoya has
defeated over a dozen world champions and has won 6
world titles. 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.
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. 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 (W 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.
This perception begin to change when he faced IBF
lightweight champion Rafael Ruelas in a unification
bout. Many picked Ruelas to win, but De La Hoya
knocked him out in the second round. Then in his
next fight, he defeated the undefeated WBC super
featherweight champion Genaro Hernandez. Hernandez
had criticized De La Hoya heavily going into the
bout, but De La Hoya broke his nose in the bout,
forcing him to retire after the sixth round.
De La Hoya soon moved up in weight again to
challenge WBC junior welterweight champion Julio
Cesar Chavez, who was an idol to De La Hoya. Chavez
believed he would win easily, as he had broken one
of De La Hoya's ribs in a sparring session when De
La Hoya was an amateur. But in the fight held at
Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, De La Hoya cut
Chavez's eye with a jab in the first round, and the
fight was stopped in round four due to the cut.
Because of this and his later victory over Chavez,
De La Hoya has always received criticism from some
Mexican fans. In his only defense of this title, De
La Hoya defeated previously undefeated WBC
lightweight champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez (W 12).
