No, no, no, no, no! I will not be discussing any South Africans today. Too many of the news headlines are being sent that way at the moment….
Instead, another gold medal winner but this one at the Barcelona Olympic Games and not on the track but in the ring. Oscar De La Hoya is a retired American professional boxer of Mexican descent. Nicknamed The Golden Boy, he had only recently graduated from James A. Garfield High School when he took part and won gold in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Born in East Los Angeles, California in 1973, Oscar came from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr. and brother Joel Jr. were all boxers. Oscar defeated seventeen world champions and won ten world titles in six different weight classes before retiring in 2009. He generated more money than any other boxer in the history of the sport, an estimated $696 million pay-per-view income.
De La Hoya founded Golden Boy Promotions, a combat sport promotional firm. He is the first American of Hispanic descent to own a national boxing promotional firm and one of the few boxers to take on promotional responsibilities while still active.
