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 best "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 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 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 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).

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