Oscar De La Hoya

Mexican-American fighter Oscar De La Hoya won the lightweight gold medal at the 1992 Olympics. He had promised his mother, who died of cancer, to win the Olympic title and did so by defeating Marco Rudolph, who had beaten him in the 1991 World Championships final. De La Hoya turned pro, eventually winning ten world titles in six different divisions. In 1994, he took the WBO super-featherweight and WBO lightweight titles. In 1996, the super-lightweight belt (WBC) followed, and he gained the welterweight title (again WBC) by defeating Pernell Whitaker on points. He lost this title to Felix Trinidad in 1999, and was unable to regain it against “Sugar” Shane Mosley. Mosley also robbed De La Hoya of his WBC super-welterweight title in 2003, but the “Golden Boy” won the WBO middleweight title fight the next year. His last title win came in 2006, when he took the WBC super-welterweight title. He lost his last title bout to Floyd Mayweather, Jr., but walked away with a 50 million dollar purse. Following a TKO loss in late 2008, De La Hoya decided to retire and focus on other interests, which include a clothing line, a singing career and co-ownership of the Houston Dynamo soccer team.