Oscar De La Hoya nicknamed "The Golden Boy"
Oscar is a hereditary boxer. Boxing has always been an integral part of the De La Hoya family. His grandfather was an amateur boxer, and his father at one time even performed in the professional ring, where, however, he did not achieve significant success. Oscar is not the first child in the family. He has an older brother Joel, and the family assumed that it would be he, not Oscar, who would continue the family tradition. But no one expected a boxing career from Oscar himself. Joel later recalled: "Oscar did not like conflicts, he never fought on the street. He preferred to skate near the house and play baseball in the park. No aggression."
The beginning of Oscar De La Hoya's career was quite unusual. The website HotSport.ua says in its boxing section that he fought his first fight against a neighbor boy at the age of 6. His father brought Oscar to the ring and he won that fight. After that, Oscar became more and more interested in boxing and started professional training at the age of 11. De La Hoya's talent began to show from a young age and he quickly began winning various youth tournaments.
In 1990, when Oscar was 17, he won the US championship and then the Goodwill Games. But after this series of brilliant victories, terrible news awaited Oscar. His mother Cecilia fell ill with breast cancer, and in October 1990 she passed away. Cecilia always dreamed that Oscar would become an Olympic champion. And after her death, De La Hoya vowed to himself to do everything to win at the Olympics.
At the Barcelona Olympics, few believed in Oscar. Already in the first round, experts predicted his defeat by a very strong Cuban boxer, a four-time world champion. But Oscar won, and continued to win fight after fight, eventually becoming an Olympic gold medalist. The story of the promise he posthumously made to his mother was broadcast during the Olympics, and made him extremely popular even then. And the victory at the Games cemented the nickname "The Golden Boy," which Oscar kept until the end of his career.
The final of the Barcelona Olympics was Oscar's last fight on the amateur ring. Over his career, De La Hoya achieved fantastic results: 223 wins and 5 losses (163 wins by knockout). Oscar De La Hoya made his professional debut on November 23, 1992. His first opponent, Lamar Williams, lost the fight in the first round by knockout. The same fate awaited many of Oscar's other opponents in his early professional fights.
De La Hoya improved with each fight and won one victory after another. Over time, world boxing titles in different versions and weight categories came to him: WBO Champion in super featherweight (1994), WBO Champion in lightweight (1994-95), IBF Champion in lightweight (1995), WBC Champion in light welterweight (1996-97), WBC Champion in welterweight (1997-99).
Oscar suffered his first defeat in the professional ring only in 1999, unexpectedly losing to Felix Trinidad. After that, wins in his career began to alternate with losses, but Oscar continued to be one of the best professional boxers for several more years and achieved several more titles: WBC Champion in light middleweight (2001-2003), WBA Champion in light middleweight (2002-2003), WBO Champion in middleweight (2004).
The "Golden Boy" ended his career in 2009, at the age of 36. Having fought 45 fights in the professional ring, Oscar won 39 of them (30 by knockout) and suffered 6 losses. Throughout his career, De La Hoya actively used the "Golden Boy" image to earn money and sign lucrative sponsorship contracts. Personal charm, pleasant appearance, the story of a boy from a poor family who achieved great results, and of course, great talent and skill – all this made Oscar one of the most popular boxers of his time.
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