Angelenos either loved him or hated him, but Oscar De La Hoya was the face of boxing in the city and nation for nearly two decades and yesterday afternoon at the L.A. Live entertainment complex, the 36 year old announced his retirement.
“After heartfelt discussion with my family and my closest friends, it is with deep gratitude and appreciation that I announce my retirement from professional boxing,” said De La Hoya, who retires from the ring with a 39-6, 30 KOs record.
An Olympic gold medal, 10 world titles, and $696 million dollars in pay-per-view revenues all grace his future hall of fame resume.
Personally, Oscar will be remembered as the fighter I loved to hate. My mother loved him, all the girls loved him, he had the endorsements; De La Hoya made it so easy to be a HATER.
And while the women tuned in for his good looks, millions of men tuned in to watch him get his head knocked off, but it took nearly two decades for us to see the Golden Boy’s downfall.
Of the six defeats that stain his record, five of them took place during his last seven fights.
Though I waited long for De La Hoya to slip and taste defeat, the boxing world will not be the same and suffer from the absence of its biggest star.
With De La Hoya calling it quits and focusing on his promotional endeavors, who will be boxing’s icon in the public eye, or more importantly, with the sport slipping in popularity, will there ever be another?
The biggest contribution Oscar can now make to boxing is creating a new Golden Boy for the sport.
