WHAT’S a boxing fan to do when the holidays are upon us and there’s a lull in the action? In my case, I bundle up with whatever pugilistic literature is on hand.
Last Rounder John Pope gave me several books on our favorite subject some of which I have already featured before.
But when I visited the country’s capital a few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to come across a book I had been hoping to get my hands on for quite some time now: Oscar dela Hoya’s “American Son: My story.” (Harper Paperback, copyright GOlden Boy Enterprises 2008 Edition).
With all the controversy surrounding the potential cancellation of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, some of the spite has been directed at the Golden Boy’s way, principally because Golden Boy Promotions is responsible for Floyd Jr.’s promotional requirements.
So it’s probably a good time to gain an insight on the most financially successful boxer-promoter in history.
STYLE. During interviews and press conferences, Oscar speaks in clear, eloquent English and is known to be multi-talented, and so not surprisingly, Oscar happens to write quite well too.
The style is straight-forward, entertaining and engaging. The book is co-authored by Steve Springer, award winning writer and journalist, but most of it is really Oscar.
The first part focuses on Oscar’s remarkable feat of winning Gold at the Los Angeles Olympics.
It then backtracks a bit to his childhood experiences and how his love for the sport was born.
CHAVEZ. Most memoirs of pro athletes contain juicy details and trivia on important events in their careers and this book is no exception.
When he was still an amateur, Oscar shares how he, Shane Mosely and another boxer were handpicked to become sparring partners of the great Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez and how the latter was quite impressed with the young upstart.
Oscar is also quite refreshingly candid about his losses to Mosely and makes an open ended invitation to his Golden Boy partner to talk about the steroid allegations, though he believes the “Sugar” man is innocent.
FAMILY. Oscar is quite close to his family and throughout the book, a recurring theme is his desire to please his father who is deemed a perfectionist, his pain and anguish over the death of his mother and his feelings towards his brother Joel.
An interesting trivia is how he shared his earnings with both his father and brother, simply because they were family.
PRIDE. Like all successful athletes who have reached the zenith of their careers, Oscar too swells with pride when recounting his accomplishments, especially when those victories meant so much to him.
It’s not hubris, but rather just sheer, unmitigated revelry at his body of work. Here is how he describes his fight with arch-rival Fernando Vargas:
“Vargas didn’t hurt me at all. I kept remembering all those things he had been saying about me and that just hardened my resolve that nothing was going to beat me that night.
Vargas slowed down appreciably in the ninth round, my right hand hitting him at will. You could see by the look on his face that he was defeated. When I got Vargas in trouble on the ropes in the eleventh round, I started firing away. I would have kept on throwing punches if referee Joe Cortez hadn’t stepped in to stop me. It felt great hitting Vargas, but I could have seriously hurt him.”
Oscar also opens up about his plans for his various business interests and the book is actually a fascinating peek into how his mind operates.
It’s a pity this autobiography was written before his fight with Manny Pacquiao and that it is devoid of any mention regarding the much-publicized tug-of-war with Top Rank for Pacquiao’s affections. But if you are an Oscar de la Hoya fan, this is as good as it gets.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Karen and Paolo of Paolito’s STK ta bay, who are avid readers of this column. Cheers!
