Oscar de la Hoya
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| Oscar de la Hoya | |
| Image:De La Hoya.jpg | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Oscar de la Hoya |
| Nickname(s) | Golden Boy |
| Rated at | Super Welterweight |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | February 4 1973 |
| Birth place | Los Angeles, California |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 43 |
| Wins | 38 |
| Wins by KO | 30 |
| Losses | 5 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Oscar de la Hoya (pronounced /ˈɒskər dɛlə ˈhɔɪə/[1]) (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. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family, his grandfather, father and brother were all boxers but it was Oscar who took his boxing to the superstar level. 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. De La Hoya 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 and only 5 losses. He won the United States' only boxing gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, knocking down his opponent, a win which he dedicated to his deceased mother.
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[edit] Career
On November 23, 1992, De La Hoya made his professional debut, and in his twelfth professional fight, he won his first title, stopping Jimmy Brendahl in (TKO 10) to win the WBO junior lightweight title. He moved up several fights later, defeating Jorge Paez (KO 2) to win the WBO lightweight title, and 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 than 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 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 Cesars' 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 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).
[edit] The Fight With Whitaker and the Welterweight Division
On April 4,1997, De La Hoya moved up in weight to challenge WBC welterweight champion Pernell Whitaker, who was then considered the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Despite being knocked down in the eight round, De La Hoya rallied late to win a controversial unanimous decision by the scores of 115-111 and 116-110. He went on to defend the title successfully seven times of the next two years.
[edit] The Quartey Fight
After once again defeating Chavez on Semptember 18, 1998, by making the Mexican champion quit on his stool after eight rounds, De La Hoya defended his WBC title against undefeated former WBA welterweight champion Ike "Bazooka" Quartey. Before the fight,it was compared widely with the fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns in 1981, and was labeled "The Challenge"
The fight saw De La Hoya take an early lead,and in the sixth, Oscar knocked Quartey down with a left hook, only to be knocked down later in the round with a left uppercut. Quartey built a lead later in the fight, but in the twelfth round, Oscar knocked Quartey down a second time and assaulted him till the final bell, and won the fight by split decision. This win and the effort showed in the final round won De La Hoya wide critical acclaim.
[edit] "The Fight of the Millennium"
After beating Oba Carr (TK0 11), De La Hoya signed to fight undefeated IBF welterweight champion Felix "Tito" Trinidad of Puerto Rico, a powerful knockout puncher who had made seventeen successful defenses of his title. The buildup to the fight was huge, and much anticipated. The nickname of the fight was chosen by De La Hoya's promoter, Bob Arum.
The fight took place on September 17, 1999 in Las Vegas. In the eyes of most people, De La Hoya clearly outboxed Tito for the first nine rounds and was thought to be way ahead on the scorecards. So on the advice in his corner, De La Hoya chose to run and not fight for the last three rounds. When the scores were announced, Trinidad had won a majority decision, even though De La Hoya had landed nearly twice as many punches as Trinidad. Oscar was widely panned for the way he fought the last three rounds and his behavior after the fight.
Despite the disappointing nature of the fight however, the fight was the highest grossing non-heavyweight fight in history, and it established De La Hoya was as the premier attraction in the sport.
After winning back the WBC welterweight title that Trinidad had vacated by beating Derell Coley (TKO 7), De La Hoya defended his title against undefeated former lightweight champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley, who was rumored to have defeated De La Hoya as an amateur and been his roommate at the 1992 Olympic Trials. In exciting fight that was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and attended by many celebrities, De La Hoya and Mosley engaged an exciting war that saw Mosley win by a close split decision. Despite the loss, De La Hoya was widely praised for his performance and many thought he was vindicated for his fight with Trinidad.
[edit] Moving up to Junior Middleweight
After hiring Floyd Mayweather Sr. to be his trainer, De La Hoya as a welterweight once more, defeating Arturo Gatti (TKO 5), De La Hoya moved up to the Junior Middleweight, challenging WBC junior middleweight champion Javier Castilljio of Spain. De La Hoya dominated the fight, winning almost every round and knocking him down with ten seconds to go to win the title.
[edit] The Rivarly With Vargas
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 never would fight him. Eventually, 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 fight, 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 him 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 steroids after the fight.
De La Hoya later defended his unified title against Yory Boy Campas (KO 6), before he faced Shane Mosley in a rematch in September 2003, which Mosley won by a close unanimous decision, despite the fact that most people thought that De La Hoay clearly deserved the decision.
[edit] Moving up to Middleweight
De la Hoya next challenged Felix Sturm for the WBO world middleweight title on June 5, 2004. 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. [2]
[edit] The Hopkins Fight
De la Hoya then challenged WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, then considered universally as the number one pound for pound fighter in the world, on September 18,2004 in Las Vegas. Despite the fact the fight was fought at a catchweight of 157 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 hand, De La Hoya fought a smart fight and was actually ahead 77-75 on one scorecard when 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. Despite this, De La Hoya made over thirty million dollars for the fight, and months later, Hopkins became a partner in De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
[edit] The Comeback
De La Hoya then took the longest layoff 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 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.
[edit] "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 pound for pound 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 early, doing his best when he used his lead left jab, but Mayweather's speed gave him the advantage later in the fight. De La Hoya did rally in the final round, but when the scorecards were announced, Mayweather won by a close split decision. De La Hoya was widely praised for his performance, and was the first man to beat Floyd on any official scorecard.
[edit] Amateur highlights
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Boxing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 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: 224-5 with 164 knockouts
[edit] Professional record
| Record to Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Won 38 (KOs 30) | Lost 5 | Drawn 0 | Total 43 |
| Date | Opponent | W-L-D | Location | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-05-05 | Floyd Mayweather Jr.
| 38-0-0 | 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
| 80-5-0 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | W TKO 7 | ||||
| 2002-09-14 | Fernando Vargas
| 22-1-0 | Las Vegas, NV, U.S. | W TKO 11 | ||||
| 2001-06-23 | Javier Castillejo
| 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 |
[edit] 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
- Ricardo Mayorga (5/06) 875,000 buys = $43.8 million
- Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (5/07) 2.4 million buys = $150 million
Became the richest fighter of all-time after fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Totals: 11,665,000 buys, generating $594.3 million.[3]
[edit] Life outside the ring
De la Hoya has a daughter, Atiana, and a son, Jacob with model Shanna Moakler.
De la Hoya produced a boxing show on American cable channel HBO: a Spanish-language boxing show called Boxeo de Oro. He has one clothing line through Mervyns 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.
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 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.
De La Hoya has expressed interest in buying the Houston Dynamo, and has formed a partnership with Golden Boy investor Gabriel Brener in negotiations with their current owners, Anschutz Entertainment Group.[4]
On October 5, 2007, De La Hoya married Millie Corretjer. They have two children: son Oscar Gabriel (b. December 29, 2005)[5] and daughter Nina Lauren Nenitte (b. December 29, 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico).[6]
[edit] 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
- Millie Corretjer
[edit] References
- ^ See inogolo:Pronunciation of Oscar de la Hoya.
- ^ http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/701/hoya-gets-decision-but-hopkins-wins/
- ^ Jim Cawkwell. The Standard. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ Dynamo For Sale; De La Hoya Group Interested, MyFoxHouston.com, November 22, 2007
- ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1145528,00.html
- ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20168612,00.html
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Roy Jones Jr. | Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1995 | Succeeded by Evander Holyfield |
| Preceded by Andreas Zülow | 25th Olympics Boxing Lightweight Gold Medalist August 1992 | Succeeded by Hocine Soltani |
| Preceded by Jimmi Bredahl | 5th World Super Featherweight Champion (WBO) March 5, 1994 - 1994 | Succeeded by Regilio Tuur |
| Preceded by Giovanni Parisi | 5th World Lightweight Champion (WBO) July 29, 1994 - 1996 | Succeeded by Artur Grigorian |
| Preceded by Rafael Ruelas | 11th World Lightweight Champion (IBF) May 6, 1995 - July, 1995 | Succeeded by Philip Holiday |
| Preceded by Julio César Chávez | 24th World Light Welterweight Champion (WBC) June 7, 1996 - 1997 | 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 Javier Castillejo | 32nd World Light Middleweight Champion (WBC) September 14, 2002 - 2003 | Succeeded by Javier Castillejo |
| Preceded by Fernando Vargas | Super World Light Middleweight Champion (WBA) September 14, 2002 - September 13, 2003 | Succeeded by Shane Mosley |
| Preceded by Felix Sturm | 17th World Middleweight Champion (WBO) June 5, 2004 - September 18, 2004 | Succeeded by Bernard Hopkins |
| Preceded by Ricardo Mayorga | World Light Middleweight Champion (WBC) May 6, 2006 - May 5, 2007 | Succeeded by Floyd Mayweather Jr. |
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Categories: American boxers | World boxing champions | IBF Champions | WBA Champions | WBC Champions | WBO Champions | Welterweights | Middleweights | Olympic boxers of the United States | Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics | Boxing promoters | Mexican American boxers | Mexican American sportspeople | 1973 births | Living people | People from Los Angeles County | The Contender | United States Amateur Champions
