Oscar could have fought Aturo Gatti 50 times, and made more than anyone else in the game each and every time. To say he only took on the best because of the cash is absurd. He took on the best because he loved the sport, and irrespective of what fans think now, the sport loved him too. He was a great fighter in his prime, better than any 147lb around today infact, and some people forget he wasn't just an icon, but a great great fighter. Unfortunate to lose against Trinidad, and the second Mosley fight.
obviously odlh did a lot but i think he was trying to cherrypick his last few years and it just backfired on him. after the early 2000's he was really at least a jmw (he's 5'11 and at 30 plus with any muscle you ain't gonna be too effective below that) and he made a point to fight 'mega fights' with much smaller guys in fmw and pac for the money. his last fight against a top guy his size was what vargas? (i give him props for seeking the bigger hops but then again i think he was going for the money there and didn't really expect to beat hopkins his future biz partner). well at least he didn't hang around and put in a mediocre performance with jcg jr for the money which he could've done. edit: i'm kind of torn on the issue b/c obviously fmw and pac were challenges but i guess i would've preferred him to campaign and go for titles at 154 maybe 160 (after hops left) rather than be a part time fighter seeking only money fights as we could've probably seen some more stellar performances from the golden boy (if he were active and at a higher weight i think he would've looked better than he did in his last few)
Quartey, Whitaker, Chavez (twice), Gonzalez, Hernandez, Gatti, Ruelas, Vargas, Mayorga, Campas, Camacho, Molina, Castillejo, Carr, Paez and Lejia - are his best wins.
Here's the press conference for anyone who hasn't seen it http://www.ringtv.com/video/de_la_hoya_announces_retirement/