By Miguel Rivera

Tuesday marked the 20 year anniversary of when Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. collided in the ring with budding superstar Oscar de la Hoya.

The fight took place on June 7, 1996 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Chavez was the veteran at 33 years and 10 months old, while De La Hoya 23 years and four months. They fought for the super lightweight title of the World Boxing Council.

The Pay-Per-View was called 'Ultimate Glory'. Chavez entered the ring with a single loss, a draw and 91 victories against De La Hoya, an Olympic gold medal winner with a 21-0 record.

De La Hoya was a 2-1 favorite with the oddsmakers, but Chavez had the majority of the fans, especially the Mexican fans, in his corner on fight night.

But Chavez hid a secret coming into that fight and the secret became known in the very first round when De La Hoya landed a hard jab. Chavez suffered a cut over his left eyebrow in training for the fight, and his doctor (among other people) strongly advised him to withdrew. Chavez was not willing to back away from the fight and went forward. He was a bloody mess after one round and the fight was stopped in the fourth.

"It was a very attractive fight, the young with the old, and the experience was with me. I prepared as hard as ever for this fight. Of course I already had my addiction problems, but still I was able to [stop using drugs and alcohol] for two months and prepared as hard as ever. I did an inhuman sacrifice because I was dealing with my addictions and stopped them, because I knew it was a very important fight and I was extremely well prepared," Chavez told ESPN Deportes.

"But five days before the fight, it was my last day of sparring, and it was the last round of sparring and I got hit with a punch and it cut me."

"The doctor told me that obviously in the fight the cut was going to open, but I would go to Tijuana for an ointment to deal with the wound, and the bleeding was not so deep. I did not stop the fight, but knew if I told the commission [about the cut], the fight will be stopped."

"Before the fight I had to put a needle into the cut so it would not hurt me, because I was recently operated on. I mean, the wound was open, and I put the needle in to [numb the area] it started bleeding again. An hour before the fight, before getting into the ring. we were hoping that the commissioner was distracted.... I got the needle, it started bleeding and I went running to the bathroom so the commission would not see me."

"God punished me and what happened had to happen. Now I regret it. I had done a lot of preparation, but with the cut being the way it was, it was logical that he would beat me."