By Brent Matteo Alderson
Photo by Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages
Every four years, we put our hopes into the young men and women that represent our country in the Olympics and this summer, America’s amateur boxing establishment is putting it’s hopes on the shoulders of a 5’10, 132-pound, nineteen-year-old kid named Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya isn’t one of those surprise stars that just pops out of the night’s sky, no, he’s probably been more hyped and has received more accolades than any amateur since Mark Breland was selling out arenas in New York in the early 1980’s.
He already has a fan contingency that follows him from meet to meet and has
all the qualities necessary to become boxing’s first true Hispanic cross over star. He’s well-spoken, good looking, bi-lingual, and he can fight. He’s a third generation boxer and because he is left handed and boxes from an orthodox stance his left hand is his bread and butter. He jabs with authority and has a wicked left hook and can easily hook off the jab.
During the course of his stellar amateur career he’s compiled a 213-5 record and has won the National Golden Gloves, two U.S. amateur championships, and the 1990 Goodwill Games. To top it all off he’s only 19 years old and has been boxing since he was six and is not only favored to win a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, but he’s also favored to bring home the gold.
De La Hoya’s life hasn’t been easy or with out hurdles. As the son of Mexican immigrants, Oscar grew up in East Los Angeles and in October of 1990, his most ardent supporter, his mother Cecilia, died of breast cancer. Oscar was deeply affected by the tragedy and has vowed to win the gold medal for her.
“It’s affected me, but I started thinking, Why not just do it for her? That was her dream.” And with the added motivation Oscar has continued to relentlessly pursue his dream. “It pushes me to train harder and get that gold medal. I’m gonna do it and I don’t think anything is going to stop me from doing it.” After every fight Oscar drops to one knee and blows a kiss to his mother towards the sky.
Just recently his journey to the Olympics hit a bump in the road when De La Hoya’s five year unbeaten streak ended when he lost a 17-13 decision to Germany’s Marco Rudolph in the second round of the 1991 Amateur World Championship in Australia, but Oscar feels like the loss will have a positive affect on the final stage of his amateur career.
“After that, all the pressure was over. Now that I lost, all the pressure came off, and my performances are getting better. It made me really focused.” And Oscar is looking forward to the games to erase the stigma associated with that loss. “It was my fault that I lost that fight. I was thinking nobody could beat me. It got to my head. He knows it. I can see it in his eyes. I want to fight him on NBC so all the world can watch the rematch. I want them to introduce him as a world champion so I can take that title.”
Oscar’s ability and charisma haven’t gone un-noticed by professional boxing’s power powerbrokers and the De La Hoya family already has a working relationship with Shelly Finkel, one of the game’s heavy-hitters who already manages World Champions Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, and Evander Holyfield.
Finkel has helped the De La Hoya family by contributing $4500 dollars to Cecilia’s funeral expenses and by loaning Oscar $17,000 for a new car. He also regularly loans Oscar’s father money on a monthly basis for living expenses and has flown Oscar to Whitaker’s camp in Virginia where he received invaluable instruction from the legendary George Benton and had the opportunity to spar with IBF 130-pound champ John-John Molina.
Finkel thinks Oscar is a solid professional prospect, but feels like Oscar needs to win the Gold Medal in order to develop the marketability required to immediately start a lucrative professional career.
“Winning a medal may be even more important now than ever before. In the past you had television and a lot of other venues. Now, with out a medal, there are even fewer opportunities for a fighter to showcase himself. Now you need the gold medal. The money may not be the same that it was in 1984, but compared to other fighters starting out it will be as good or better.”
Olympic success doesn’t necessarily translate into professional success. Mike Tyson lost to Henry Tillman in the Olympic trials in 1984 and knocked him out in one round in the professionals. And Howard Davis Jr. beat Aaron Pryor for a spot on the 1976 Olympic team and ended up winning the Gold, but was never able to win a world title. Still with his combination of looks, youth, and a wicked left hook, it looks like all Oscar has to do to become boxing’s next superstar is bring home the gold.
Notes:
This article was written in the present-tense with the intention of momentarily transplanting the reader back to the Spring of 1992 when De La Hoya was preparing for the Olympic trials.
Marco Antonio Barrera is scheduled to face Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden on March 17 on HBO Pay Per View. I know Barrera wants to stay active, but at this stage of his career he shouldn’t be fighting Marquez, he should be cashing in and demanding the fight with the Pac-Man regardless of his promotional affiliation.
Former Cruiserweight Champ Glenn McCory had a mediocre 14-5 (3) record when manager/trainer Beau Williford saw the young Englishman sparring and decided to bring him over to the States in order to try to develop him. Beau had him spar with James “Quick” Tillis who stated afterward, “This is a bad F______ white boy!” Couple of years later Glen ended up winning the IBF Cruiserweight title that had been vacated by Evander Holyfield.
Brent Matteo Alderson, a graduate of UCLA, has been part of the staff at BoxingScene.com since 2004 and teaches Spanish at the High School level in Southern California. He has published articles in Ring Magazine, KO, World Boxing, Boxing 2006, and Latin Boxing Magazine. He has also been featured on the ESPN Classic television program “Who’s Number One?” Please e-mail any comments to BoxingAficionado@aol.com
