The five fights that defined Oscar De La Hoya

He is most prominent now as a promoter, but twenty years ago Oscar De La Hoya was the largest name in boxing. His popularity was so that he even, by any metric, outshone the heavyweight champion of the world when it came to attention.

De La Hoya came into the professional side in 1992 with an infectious smile, an Olympic gold medal, and the backing of super-promoter Bob Arum. He left it sixteen years later with a record of 39-6 (30), multiple world championships, and more money than one could ever hope to finish counting.

There was nobody in any of the divisions that the Golden Boy fought in that whom he avoided. For a fighter so beloved and so valuable, many of the bouts he went into carried a heavy load of risk.

De La Hoya vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1996

It was Mexican against Mexican-American in this clash in Las Vegas. Chavez, considered to be the greatest-ever Mexican boxer, had a record of 97-1-1 (79), but was considered past his best. The question was whether De La Hoya, 21-0 (19), was up to the task of beating whatever was left of Chavez.

It took just four rounds. Cutting Chavez in the first round, then breaking his nose, De La Hoya won the fight when the ringside doctor advised that his opponent was in no state to continue. Two years later, De La Hoya stopped Chavez again, this time in eight.

De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad, 1999

It was Mexico against Puerto Rico. And while both men could box, they were also renown for throwing left hooks. Meeting on the Las Vegas strip, De La Hoya came in with a 31-0 (25) record, while Trinidad entered the ring with a 35-0 (30) slate.

It was De La Hoya who seemed to have the better of it through the twelve rounds the fight lasted, but then he removed his foot from the pedal in the final stretch, allowing Trinidad to move back into the scoring. The majority decision for Trinidad was controversial, but no rematch was ever made.

De La Hoya vs. Bernard Hopkins, 2004

While De La Hoya had picked up the WBO middleweight title by outpointing Felix Sturm (in a fight that Sturm maintains to this day that he won), the recognised ruler at 160lbs in 2004 was Bernard Hopkins, 44-2-1 (31). De La Hoya, meanwhile, had seen his career ebb and flow, his record then standing at 37-3 (29).

Though the pair became business partners later, the match between the two was all business. Hopkins gradually broke De La Hoya apart after a few promising rounds for the Mexican-American, then finished him with a hook to the body in the ninth round. If anything marked the beginning of the end of De La Hoya’s career, it was this one.

De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, 2007

It was a fight between the past and the future in 2007 when De La Hoya, then 38-4 (3), began to ride into the sunset with a loss to Mayweather, 37-0 (24). Despite being ruled a split decision, Mayweather won handily and, like the fight against Trinidad, there were no serious calls for a rematch.

De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao, 2008

The only thing that is constant is the passage of time. It seemed when this fight was announced in 2008 that even De La Hoya was admitting this, attempting cynically to win a welterweight title against a much-undersized opponent in Manny Pacquiao, 47-3-2 (35).

Coming down around ten pounds from his previous fight, De La Hoya struggled so much at the weight that Pacquiao’s coach Freddie Roach later said he thought that an IV was being used to rehydrate De La Hoya up until the moment he walked to the ring.

Roach told Pacquiao to jump straight on De La Hoya, which he did. After eight rounds, the fight was over with the Golden Boy pulling out while sitting on his seat. His ploy to beat Pacquiao had failed and, after sixteen years, De La Hoya’s career came to its end.

Honourable mentions