10. Oscar De La Hoya 39-6, 30 KOs
Birthplace: Montabello, CA
Professional Career: 1992-2008
1972 was a busy year as the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends, the Sears Tower in Chicago is completed, the Drug Enforcement Agency (D.E.A.) is formed, the Watergate scandal erupts and a Golden Boy was born.
Oscar De La Hoya had an outstanding amateur career, amassing a record of 234-6, 163 KOs with two of those losses coming against future professional nemesis Shane Mosley.
In the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, De La Hoya fulfilled a promise made to his terminally ill mother when he defeated Marco Rudolph of Germany to bring the gold medal home to America.
De La Hoya had already developed an excellent professional career before embarking on his welterweight journey winning titles in the super featherweight, lightweight and super lightweight divisions.
In his first fight at 147, he unseated the defensive wizard Pernell Whitaker (40-1-1, 17 KOs) for the WBC strap winning by a very close, but unanimous decision.
After four defenses including a wide unanimous decision over the slippery Hector “Macho” Camacho, De La Hoya squared off in a rematch with Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez (100-2-2, 81 KOs) who he had defeated two years prior at 139 pounds.
In a clash of Mexican American vs. Mexican, De La Hoya dismantled the great Chavez and opened a huge gash over his eye that covered his face in a gory mask of blood, finally forcing him to retire on his stool in Round 8.
De La Hoya went to war with the always tough Ike Quartey (34-0-1, 29 KOs) in his next successful defense, and then set his sights on Puerto Rican puncher Felix Trinidad (35-0, 30 KOs) in a super fight that he lost via a controversial 12-round decision.
In 2001, De La Hoya notched his last win at welterweight against the human highlight reel, Arturo “Thunder” Gatti (40-9, 31 KOs), via fourth-round stoppage before moving up in weight and further enhancing an already storied career.
Greatest rival: De La Hoya didn’t fight any welterweight rematches, however his bout with Chavez when he moved up to face the Golden Boy was certainly one taken personally by both fighters.
