The Hotstepper: Oscar De La Hoya, Nearing Stardom DLH vs. Ruelas Article

Before Oscar De La Hoya had thrown a single right cross in a professional prizefight, he had already been featured in a Sports Illustrated layout; he had already met the President of the United States at the White House; he had already cruised the late-night TV roundabout (in the early nineties that meant Arsenio Hall and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno); he had already been a headline windfall for the Los Angeles Times, and… he was already a millionaire. Or close to it. As one of the last of a dying breed—an American gold medalist—De La Hoya parlayed a paralyzing left hook, Hollywood-hunk good looks, and a storybook background into the biggest signing bonus ever given to an amateur pug. Not bad for a nineteen-year-old who had failed to graduate from Garfield High in East L.A., the setting for the slick Tinseltown feel-good flick Stand and Deliver (”Go to woodshop, make yourself a shoeshine box, you’re gonna need it.”). No, De La Hoya had to settle for a GED, but settling would never become a habit for “The Golden Boy.”

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