[3][4][5] De La Hoya was nicknamed "The Golden Boy of Boxing" by the media when he represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics where, shortly after having graduated from James A. Garfield High School, he won a gold medal in the lightweight division.

[10] He was born in East Los Angeles, California into a boxing family; his grandfather, Vicente, was an amateur fighter during the 1940s, and his father, Joel Sr., had been a professional boxer during the 1960s.

The joy of victory was tempered by the news that his mother, Cecilia Gonzales De La Hoya (November 22, 1950 – October 28, 1990), was terminally ill with breast cancer.

[20] On November 23, 1992, De La Hoya made his professional debut by scoring a first-round KO victory over Lamar Williams in 1 minute 42 seconds.

In his sixth and final defense of the WBO lightweight title, he knocked out Jesse James Leija (30–1–2) in two rounds at New York's Madison Square Garden.

On June 7, 1996, Oscar De La Hoya fought Mexican legend Julio César Chávez (96–1–1) for the lineal and WBC light welterweight championship.

De La Hoya successfully defended his titles with a twelve-round unanimous decision against undefeated former WBC Lightweight Champion and number one light welterweight contender Miguel Ángel González (41–0–0).

[28] On June 14, 1997, De La Hoya made the first successful defense of his WBC welterweight title, defeating David Kamau by second-round KO.

After seven defenses of his lineal and WBC welterweight titles, De La Hoya fought rival and IBF Champion Félix Trinidad (35–0) on September 18, 1999, in one of the biggest pay-per-view events in history, setting a record for a non-heavyweight fight.

The WBC later awarded De La Hoya its welterweight title after Trinidad vacated it,[30] which he lost to Shane Mosley (34–0) by a split decision on June 17, 2000.

De La Hoya planned on facing a major opponent in May—Trinidad, Mosley, Hopkins, or Vargas—and says he still hopes to do so if he can get WBC approval to put off his mandatory match.

De La Hoya defended his unified title against Yori Boy Campas (80–5) with a routine seventh round stoppage then faced Shane Mosley (38–2) in a rematch.

The fight, billed as "Retribution" and staged at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, was more of a boxing match than their first encounter, and while some rounds were close, De La Hoya's game plan utilizing his jab seemed to be paying off, leaving Mosley visually frustrated.

Jeff Novitzky, a lead investigator on the BALCO case, reported that documents seized from the lab show that Mosley received "the clear" and "the cream," both designer steroids.

Although the fight was at a catchweight of 158 pounds (72 kg), many thought De La Hoya was too small for the weight class and Hopkins was considered a heavy favorite.

[45] He opened a cut near Forbes' eye in the sixth round, going on to win by unanimous decision in 12.`[46] On June 6, 2008, Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his first of many subsequent retirements from boxing, effectively ending talk of a rematch.

[47] However, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach was confident of a victory as he stated that De La Hoya could no longer "pull the trigger" at that stage of his career.

De La Hoya announced his retirement on April 14, 2009, ending any speculation about a potential fight with Julio César Chávez Jr., son of the former champion and Mexican icon Julio César Chávez, Sr.[52] Later in 2009, De La Hoya held an exhibition boxing fight versus basketball player Shaquille O'Neal as an episode of the television show Shaq Vs. On November 25, 2020, De La Hoya told DAZN that "I'm 90 percent positive that I'm coming back the first quarter of next year," and that he was open to fighting Gennady Golovkin in a bout.

[53] On June 17, 2021, it was announced that De La Hoya would return to the ring in an exhibition bout against Vitor Belfort on September 11, 2021, under the Triller (app) Fight Club banner.

"[60] In September 2000, the relationship abruptly ended when Moakler, who was at home watching the Latin Grammy Awards on television, saw De La Hoya escorting another woman to the show.

[61] In December 2000, Moakler filed a $62.5 million palimony suit against her ex-fiancé, claiming he was an alcoholic, abusive to her and to their daughter, and that he used them "as props to promote his public image.

The self-titled CD is a Latin pop album with 13 tracks in both English and Spanish, written by Diane Warren and the Bee Gees, and was nominated for a Grammy.

[70] In 2006, De La Hoya authorized a children's picture book titled Super Oscar,[71] published by Simon & Schuster and released in his name.

The book tells the story of young Oscar as a daydreamer, who uses his great physical ability to prepare an elaborate picnic for his entire neighborhood in just fifteen minutes.

[77] In June 2008, HarperCollins released De La Hoya's autobiography, American Son: My Story, written with author and Los Angeles Times sportswriter Steve Springer.

[79] In early 2011, De La Hoya visited U.S. military personnel in Kuwait and Iraq under the auspices of the USO, holding boxing clinics and greeting the troops.

[87] Nonetheless, during De La Hoya's August 2011 interview with Univision, he confirmed that it was indeed him in the leaked 2007 photos, attributing the aberration to poor judgement due to his first use of cocaine.

[88] Three months prior to the cross-dressing controversy, De La Hoya had publicly acknowledged that he had a substance abuse problem, stating, "After doing an honest evaluation of myself, I recognize that there are certain issues that I need to work on.

[89] In September 2013, just a few days before the Golden Boy promoted match of Floyd Mayweather vs. Saúl Álvarez, De La Hoya announced that he was returning to a drug and alcohol treatment facility.

[93] Total (approximate) revenue: $700,000,000[96] American Son: My Story, by Oscar De La Hoya, with Steve Springer, HarperCollins via Google Books, 2008.