Bibliography Of Oscar De La Hoya

Bibliography of Oscar De La Hoya

Birthplace: East Los Angeles, California

"I want to be considered one of the great legends in boxing" Oscar De La Hoya.

Oscar De La Hoya is a Mexican-American boxer who won the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Oscar De La Hoya was six years old when he first began to box. "My brother, Joel Jr., put a pair on me and the other pair on one of my cousins," Oscar recalled. " Then he yelled 'Time!' immediately, I covered my cheeks with the gloves." "The next thing I knew Ð'-- wham Ð'-- the first punch is a left jab that goes between my gloves and lands smack on my nose!" Oscar De La Hoya ran home, crying every step of the way.

De La Hoya never pictured himself becoming a fighter. He was always found in the park playing baseball with the other kids. It was actually his older brother Joel Jr. who many believed had the potential to become a great fighter.

Joel Jr. never pictured his younger brother as a fighter. "Oscar hated physical confrontations; He never had a street fight. He preferred to play with skateboards near the house and baseball in the park. Nothing violent. But boxing is in the De La Hoya tradition and blood. It goes back several generations when his grandfather, Vicente, a 126-pound amateur in the 1940s, and his father Joel, Sr., who fought as a lightweight in the professional ranks in the mid-1960s."

Oscar was being pushed to go to the gym and learn to defend himself. He started going to the Eastside Boxing Gym in East L.A and began training and remembers that "every time I won a fight, my cousins, aunts and uncles would give me money. A dollar here, a quarter there, half a buck."

It was there that this future world champion began his road to stardom.

He quickly discovered the ingredient that would make him a devastating fighter, his powerful left hand. He began to train religiously.

Oscar's first true test was at the 1992 Olympics. He waited anxiously and prepared his entire life for that moment. He promised his ill mother, Cecilia, that he would bring back home the gold medal. There was no question in his mind that he would win it. He was going to win it for his mother!

The road to the gold medal bout was not an easy one. As the Olympic tournament began he disposed of his first three opponents - knocking out the first. Then in his first medal round match, what should have been an easy victory became a close controversial decision. De La Hoya struggled against his opponent's awkward bull-rushing style, but Oscar would not be denied as he emerged with a tight one-point victory.

De La Hoya was now in the gold medal bout. The very gold medal he promised his beloved mother and was eager to win since all the other U.S. boxers failed to bring home the gold.

His final hurdle would come against Marco Rudolph, the fighter who had defeated Oscar one year earlier at the World Championships in Australia. It was De La Hoya's first loss as an amateur in four years. For Oscar, it would make the victory that much sweeter.

De La Hoya, fighting at 132 pounds, dominated the fight from beginning to end. He controlled Rudolph for the entire three rounds. In the third round, he used his powerful left hand to knock down Rudolph. It was no contest and the referee stopped the fight. De La Hoya celebrated by dancing around the ring with a U.S. flag in one hand and a Mexican flag in the other.

Oscar had accomplished his ultimate goal, he fulfilled his special promise to his mother -- one of the most emotional moments of the Olympic Games.

During his amateur boxing career, De La Hoya's record was an outstanding 223-5 with 163 knockouts.

After the Olympics, Oscar bought a big house in a nice neighborhood a few miles from East L.A. He wanted to share the success of winning the gold medal and the house with his mother, but she was already gone. His mother, Cecilia died of breast cancer.

Oscar wanted to quit boxing because the pain of losing his mother was unbearable, but he realized that she wanted him to be a great fighter. So he continued and became a five-time world champion with explosive power and great boxing skills in the ring.

Oscar has won world crowns at 130, 135, 140, 147 and 154 pounds beating some impressive boxers along the way. He stopped Wilfredo Rivera in eight rounds on the "Title Wave" championship card in Atlantic City, NJ and defeated a tough Hector Camacho in 1996 by unanimous decision. "He's a true champion," said Camacho. "He's the best I've ever fought and I've been in there with the best."

De La Hoya's also fought against the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez in Chavez's 100th professional fight. Oscar defeated him soundly and cut Chavez's eye and broke his nose, but felt honored to be in the ring with such a true warrior and boxing legend.

De La Hoya captured the welterweight title in his victory over six-time world champion Pernell Whitaker on April 12, 1997, in Las Vegas. It was a huge challenge for the Golden Boy who went up seven pounds (from 140 to 147) and took on a seasoned tricky southpaw who at times fought in a low crouch and fired from different angles.

He ruled the welterweight division until he met with up with the hard-hitting Felix Trinidad on September 18, 1999. It was one of the most anticipated fights in the 90's and broke pay-per-view box office records. The outcome for the very first time wasn't in Oscar's favor. He lost a 12-round unanimous decision and the WBC Welterweight title went to Felix Trinidad.

After a successful fight against Derrell Coley, De La Hoya went after the tough Sugar Shane Mosely and lost by unanimous decision in a 12 round WBC title match.

The loss to Mosely and Trinidad made him re-think his desire to continue boxing. De La Hoya decided to take some time away boxing and pursue a childhood fantasy -- singing.

De La Hoya has been singing since the age of seven when he and his beloved mother, Cecilia use to sing Spanish songs together every day. "Since I was a little boy I have always wanted to record an album. I used to listen to my mother sing around the house, every hour of the day, listening to her singing ballads. We would then sing together around the house with her everyday."

De La Hoya release his first album on EMI/Latin Records named "Oscar" and was successful. The album