Boxing’s Greats of the States | California: Oscar de la Hoya

Boxers come from every corner of the globe. Sometimes, fighters are products of their environment, favoring styles prevalent in the country or state from which they hail. Various regions of the United States are considered factories for great fighters, though that certainly is not the case with each state. In this weekly Sherdog.com series, the spotlight will shine on the best boxer of all-time from each of the 50 states. Fighters do not necessarily need to be born in a given state to represent it; they simply need to be associated with it. For example, all-time great heavyweight legend Joe Louis was born in Alabama, but he is identified almost universally with Detroit.

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When it comes to boxing history in the state of California, the roots of great fights and fighters run as deep as a redwood’s. Countless boxers have captured world titles while hailing from California, whether they were born in the “Golden State” or moved there from someplace else. However, one fighter stands head and shoulders above the rest when discussing the state’s greats: Oscar de la Hoya.

After capping off a remarkable amateur career by capturing gold in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, “The Golden Boy” immediately became a household name. With his striking good looks and ferocious fighting style, he was a fantastic killing machine early in his career. After going 11-0 with 10 knockouts, de la Hoya systematically broke down Jimmy Bredahl to win the WBO junior lightweight title with a 10th-round TKO on March 5, 1994.

De la Hoya quickly snatched up the WBO lightweight crown by smashing Jorge Paez within two rounds, defended it a few times and then added the IBF’s lightweight strap to his collection by starching Rafael Ruelas in the second round of their May 1995 encounter. Wins over Genaro Hernandez, John John Molina and Jesse James Leija strengthened his profile, but it was not until he stood toe-to-toe with Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez in 1996 that he became a true superstar. He pounded on Chavez and forced a stoppage in the fourth round to capture the WBC junior welterweight crown.

“The Golden Boy” continued his brilliance by scoring huge wins over Pernell Whitaker to win the WBC welterweight belt, Wilfredo Rivera, Hector Camacho, Ike Quartey and Oba Carr before finally meeting Felix Trinidad on Sept. 18, 1999 in one of the biggest, most anticipated fights in history. Though their 12-round duel was not what people expected, it smashed every single revenue record for a non-heavyweight fight. However, de la Hoya suffered his first career defeat.

De la Hoya’s fights were major events, the type of spectacles that eventually defined the career of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He was the perfect bridge between the fading Mike Tyson era and the Mayweather decade, and during this time, he was widely considered one of the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, alongside Roy Jones Jr. The East Los Angeles native eventually added world championships at junior middleweight and middleweight. In total, de la Hoya captured a world title in six different weight classes.

De la Hoya ended his career with an overall record of 39-6 with 30 KOs. He engaged in bouts with the best fighters of his generation while they were at their peaks, from Trinidad, Quartey, Mayweather, Ruelas and Hernandez to Shane Mosley (twice), Manny Pacquiao, Fernando Vargas and Bernard Hopkins. De la Hoya was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Shane Mosley, Diego Corrales, Bobby Chacon, Jerry Quarry, Timothy Bradley, Fernando Vargas, Gabriel Ruelas, Rafael Ruelas