Oscar de la Hoya: 1973—: Boxer

De La Hoya's father put him in the ring for the first time when he was six years old and he won his first match against a neighborhood kid. By the time he was 11 years old he was winning competitions. Soon De La Hoya began to train at the Resurrection Boy's Club Gym with Al Stankie, who had trained another East Los Angeles boxer, Paul Gonzales, to an Olympic Gold medal. De La Hoya's career quickly began to soar. At the age of 15 he won the National Junior Boxing Championship at a weight of 119 pounds and a year later he won the National Golden Gloves title at a weight of 125 pounds.

In 1990 when De La Hoya was only 17 years old, he won the U.S. National Championship in the 125-pound division and he won a gold medal at the Goodwill Games. He was the youngest U.S. boxer to compete in that event. It was after the Goodwill Games that De La Hoya learned that his mother was dying of cancer. She had wanted to keep her illness a secret until after the Goodwill Games so that her son could focus on his competition. In October 1990 Cecilia died of breast cancer at the age of 38. She had always hoped that her son would win a gold medal at the Olympics and her untimely death gave De La Hoya a concrete goal for the next two years.