Oscar De La Hoya Biography

            Oscar De La Hoya was born February 12, 1971 in East Los Angeles, California. He was six years old when he first began to box. His brother paired him with one of his cousins for his first fight and he automatically covered his cheeks and started throwing punches. Eventually his family started giving him money if he would win a match. He was never thought to be a fighter. Infact, he was scared of confrontation. He preferred to play with skateboards and nothing that included violence. His Grandfather was Vicente, an amateur in the 1940s, and his father Joel Sr.,a professional in the mid-1960s. .
             In 1992 Oscar was on his way to the Olympics. He promised his mother Cecilila that he would bring back a gold metal for her. He was not denied.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 call. De La Hoya struggled against his opponent's awkward style, but Oscar emerged with a tight one-point victory.
             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 it was too late, his mother had passed of breast cancer. Oscar wanted to quit boxing because of the pain from losing his mother, until he realized that she would want him to continue to be the best.
             His signature celebration after winning a fight is to dance around the ring with a U.S. flag in one hand and a Mexican flag in the other. His powerful left hand was his main key to winning. Oscars amateur boxing career ended at 223-5 with 163 knockouts.
             Oscar has been singing since the age of seven. He and his mother used to sing Spanish songs together daily. Soon he would release his first album named "Oscar". It was very successful. His album topped the charts for several weeks. His song "Ven a Mi" was even nominated for a Grammy.