SPORTS RECORDS 8: OSCAR DE LA HOYA, GOLDEN BOY OF BOXING, WORLD NO. 1 POUND-FOR-POUND FIGHTER IN 1987-1988
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 18 Jan 2025
Oscar De La Hoya won 11 world titles in six weight classes, including lineal championships in three weight classes. He was nicknamed "The Golden Boy of Boxing" by sports scribes when he won the gold medal in the lightweight division as a member of the United States boxing team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
* * *
De La Hoya was voted The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1995, and was its number one fighter in the world, pound for pound, in 1997 and 1998. De La Hoya earned approximately $700 million in pay-per-view, making him the top pay-per-view fighter before being eclipsed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. He retired as an active fighter in 2009 after 16 years as a professional boxer.
* * *
De La Hoya also fought more often than the present boxing stars. From 1995 and 1997 he fought 14 times, winning all bouts. He faced opponents who had a combined record of 483-21-8. He made four WBO lightweight title defenses in 1995. In 1996, he won the WBC super lightweight belt and defended it once and in 1997, he won a WBC welterweight title and defended it three times.
* * *
In 2002, De La Hoya founded his Golden Boy Promotions, a boxing and other combat sport promotions company. He is the first American-Mexican to own a national boxing promotional outfit, and one of the few professional boxers to promote boxing fights responsibilities while still active as a boxer.
* * *
Volleyball is a team sport composed of two teams of six players each and are separated by a net. Each team strives to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It was included in the official program of the Summer Olympics since the Games in Tokyo in 1964. Beach volleyball was introduced to the program at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. A different version of volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is called sitting volleyball.
* * *
William G. Morgan invented volleyball in 1895 when he was the YMCA physical education director in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He derived the game from badminton, so he initially callwd the sport mintonette. He was a one-time student of basketball inventor James Naismith and invented the game for his clients at the YMCA, mostly middle-aged businessmen who couldn't withstand the physical demands of basketball.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
MANNY PACQUIAO PROMOTIONS TADURAN VS. PEREZ WEIGH-IN RESULTS
Fri, 03 Apr 2026PLANET ICE FIGHT NIGHT: WEIGH-IN RESULTS AS BROWN AND DUCAR FACE-OFF FOR FINAL TIME
Fri, 03 Apr 2026Battle of the Trades Returns for Its 3rd Year April 25 at Torrey Pines Community Resource Center in Las Vegas
Fri, 03 Apr 2026Bobby Laing vs. Russ Kimber in intriguing Intra-state match-up between Massachusetts Light Heavyweights on ‘Rumble at the Rink II’
Fri, 03 Apr 2026PH chess wizard Jacobb Seda ties for 1st, settles for silver on tiebreaks in Thailand meet
By Marlon Bernardino, Fri, 03 Apr 2026Rene “Chulo” Santiago, Masataka Taniguchi Officially Make Weight for Friday’s Unified World Title Clash in Tokyo
Thu, 02 Apr 2026Marlon Tapales and Yukinori Oguni Make Weight in Clash of Former World Champions
Thu, 02 Apr 2026Taduran in high spirits ahead of title defense in California
By Carlos Costa, Thu, 02 Apr 2026Waiting to beat Floyd
By Joaquin Henson, Thu, 02 Apr 202620th Philippine Xiangqi Open tournament on May 1
By Marlon Bernardino, Thu, 02 Apr 2026Can Tapales Overpower Oguni to Increase his Chances of Another World Title Fight?
By Carlos Costa, Thu, 02 Apr 2026BROWN-DUCAR PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES IN FULL: EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAID AHEAD OF FRIDAY'S ALTRINCHAM FIGHT NIGHT
Thu, 02 Apr 2026Wise Owl Boxing Makes Headlines Again with Signing of Former World Champion Julio Cesar “El Rey” Martinez
Thu, 02 Apr 2026Santiago-Taniguchi Final Presser
Wed, 01 Apr 2026Jimuel in Action on Friday!
By Carlos Costa, Wed, 01 Apr 2026