GOLDEN BOY Oscar De La Hoya is to become Golden Oldie, as he plans a sensational comeback aged 47.
The Anerican won 11 world titles, amassed a personal fortune of £150million – and even got caught in a cross-dressing scandal.
He also battled a drug and alcohol addiction that left many of his personal relationships in tatters and led him to contemplate suicide.
Yet despite his demons, the 47-year-old shocked the sporting world earlier this year by announcing his plans to come out of retirement – more than a decade after hanging up his gloves.
During his 16-year professional career De La Hoya fought some of the greats, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Hector Camacho and Julio Cesar Chavez.
After breaking through at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, the Los Angeles native went on to compete as a professional in six different weight classes before turning to management as president of Golden Boy Promotions, which currently boasts some 90 boxers in its stable.
But making a comeback at the age of 47 would add an unlikely chapter to his amazing story.
De La Hoya made his professional debut on November 23, 1992, where he scored a first-round knockout against Jimmy Bredahi.
He quickly rose to fame in the boxing world winning his first 31 fights – 25 by way of knockout.
In 1995, Ring Magazine named the 22-year-old phenomenon Fighter of the Year.
In 1999, De La Hoya competed in the biggest fight of his career at that time, when he faced off against Felix Trinidad in what was named The Battle of the Millennium.
Both welterweight titleholders were undefeated.
The showdown set the pay-per-view record for a non-heavyweight fight with 1.4 million buys on HBO, earning both fighters a combined £30million.
In September 1999, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Trinidad officially unified the titles by 13-round majority decision, handing The Golden Boy his first career loss.
De La Hoya shattered pay-per-view records again in 2007 with his mega fight against Mayweather setting a new record with 2.4 million buys.
Billed as The World Awaits, the contest generated over £100million in revenue.
In the end, Mayweather was awarded the victory by split decision, capturing the WBC light middleweight title.
De La Hoya took home £40million from the fight, the highest purse ever for a fighter.
In 2008 he was soundly beaten by Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
De La Hoya announced his retirement four months later on April 14, 2009.
Despite his success, De La Hoya has endured personal battles outside of boxing that left him contemplating suicide.
In October 1997, he began dating Shanna Moakler, a former Miss USA.
The couple announced their engagement a year after in 1998.
Moakler gave birth to De La Hoya’s daughter, Atiana Cecilia De La Hoya, in 1999.
The engagement abruptly ended in September 2000, when Moakler, who was at home watching the Latin Grammy Awards, saw De La Hoya escorting another woman to the show.
Two months later, Moakler filed a £46million palimony suit against the boxer, half of De La Hoya’s estimated net worth at the time, the New York Post reported.
Moakler claimed the boxer was an alcoholic and abusive to her and their daughter.
The case was settled out of court in 2001.
On October 5, 2001, De La Hoya married Puerto Rican singer and actress Millie Corretjer after the boxer asked her to be in a music video has was making.
The two have three children together, however after a 15-year marriage the couple reportedly split in 2016.
The former champion hit rock bottom in 2011, when he revealed that he had contemplated suicide as he struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction.
“Rock bottom was recently. Within a couple of years, just thinking if my life was even worth it.
“I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the courage to take my own life but I was thinking about it,” De La Hoya told Univision.
“There were drugs, my drug of choice was cocaine and alcohol.
“Cocaine was recent, the last two years, last two-and-a-half years, and I depended more on the alcohol than the cocaine.
Throughout his years of addiction, multiple female models have claimed that they participated in drug and alcohol fueled cross dressing sex parties with the boxer.
In November 2007, photos were leaked of De La Hoya dressed up in fishnet stockings, women’s underwear, high-heels and boxing gloves.
The boxer claimed the photos were fake, but it was later reported that he paid Russian model Milana Dravnel £15million to buy her silence.
Another model, Angelica Marie Cecora, told the New York Post that she had also been involved in a sex and drag party with the athlete.
“It was beyond kinky. Things that I don’t even know how to explain were done with him,” she said at the time.
After years of denying the authenticity of the photos, the 47-year-old recently admitted to Univision that it was him in the pictures, saying he was struggling with drugs and alcohol at the time.
“Let me tell you, yes, yes, it was me (in those pictures). I am tired now of lying, of lying to the public and of lying to myself,” he told the outlet.
In April 2009, the 11-time world champion announced his retirement from the sport.
“My heart still wants to fight, that’s for sure. But when your physical [body] doesn’t respond, what can you do?,” he said.
Post retirement, De La Hoya has continued in the sport of boxing with his Golden Boy Promotions.
The firm has some 90 boxers under contract, including stars such as Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, Rene Alvarado, Patrick Teixeira, Joseph Diaz and Jaime Munguia.
On August 19, 2020, the former world champion shocked the boxing world when he announced he’s stepping out of retirement to resume his career.
“The rumors are true, and I’m going to start sparring in the next [few] weeks. It’s a real fight. I miss being in the ring. I love boxing. Boxing is what gave me everything I have today, and I just miss it,” De La Hoya told ESPN.
“Look, it’s been a long time, yes. But actually my jab feels faster than ever. I have to make sure that my conditioning is perfect, my health is good. And that’s going to take place in the next few weeks. So we’ll see.”
De La Hoya said he looked at the current landscape of boxing and didn’t like what he saw.
“All these fighters are not of the level that I was 15, 20 years ago, all these fighters are demanding so much money, all these fighters are demanding the moon,” he told the outlet.
“These guys are in it just for the money, that’ll be the big difference. I will fight for the glory, and these guys only fight for the money.
“And guess what? That glory will always win,” he added.
De La Hoya added that his plan is to compete between 154-160 pounds and is looking to take on “any top guy out there.”
