“I think tonight is a good night to tell him,” she told the Los Angeles
Times before she gave her husband the news. “He has a lot to look forward to
now.”
This will be De La Hoya’s fourth child and his wife’s second. The couple
welcomed a son, Oscar Gabriel, on Dec. 29, 2005.

De La Hoya, 34, and Corretjer, a 33-year-old Puerto Rican pop singer, were
married Oct. 5, 2001. The couple met in 2000, when both were signed to the
same record label. (De La Hoya’s debut CD that year earned a Grammy nod.)
The boxer has two other children: Jacob, 9, and Atiana, 8, from previous
relationships. Atiana’s mother is former Dancing with the Stars contestant
Shanna Moakler.
Corretjer said this wouldn’t be the only big news in the fighter’s life -
retirement may be in the cards. “I have a feeling this may be it for him,”
she told the L.A. Times. “I know this because he just told me.”

Childhood

De La Hoya was born in East Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he was the youngest fighter to win first place in Freewill games. He never lost a fight for 4 years and 5 months until he met Marco Rudolph, who was the best fighter from Germany at the time. He avenged the loss by winning the gold medal in the Olympics. He had an impressive record in the amateurs with 223 wins, 5 losses and an impressive 163 knockouts, a record matched by only a handful of other boxers in history.

Career

On November 23, 1992, De La Hoya made his pro debut. He went on to win titles in 4 different weight divisions including lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight. He also beat former and current world champions Troy Dorsey (TKO 1), Jorge Paez (KO 2), Genaro Hernandez (TKO 6), John John Molina (W 12), Rafael Ruelas (TKO 2), Julio César Chávez (TKO 4, TKO 8), Miguel Angel Gonzalez (W 12), Jesse James Leija (TKO 2), Pernell Whitaker, Hector “Macho” Camacho (W 12), Ike Quartey (W 12), Arturo Gatti (TKO 5), Javier Castillejo (W 12), and Fernando Vargas (TKO 11). His losses include a controversial majority-decision loss to Félix Trinidad and two decision losses to Shane Mosley, a split-decision, and a controversial unanimous decision. He has been stopped once in his career by Bernard Hopkins (KO 9). The fight with Félix Trinidad was the highest selling non-heavyweight pay per view of all-time, selling over 1.2 million buys. [1]

On September 14, 2002, De La Hoya fought his nemesis “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas. Their feud had began when De La Hoya allegedly laughed at Vargas years earlier when Vargas fell into a snowbank. [2]. After fiercely competitive early rounds, De La Hoya seized control of the latter half of the fight. In round 11, De La Hoya dropped Vargas with a left hook. Vargas got up at the count of nine, but de la Hoya finished him with a barrage of punches forcing the referee to stop the fight at 1:48 of round 11 (TKO 11). It was later revealed that Vargas had tested positive for steroids in his post-fight drug test.

On May 3, 2003, as part of the Cinco de Mayo festivities, he retained his WBC and WBA world junior middleweight championships when the corner of former world champion Yory Boy Campas threw in the towel, and officially gave De La Hoya a seventh round technical-knockout win. On September 13, he and former rival Mosley met once again, in Las Vegas, and Mosley took away De La Hoya’s world title belts via controversial unanimous decision. De La Hoya would later demand an investigation into the scorecards. [3]

De La Hoya next challenged Felix Sturm for the WBO world middleweight title on June 5, 2004. He was awarded a controversial unanimous decision, to become the first boxer in history to win world titles in six different weight divisions. All three judges scored the bout 115-113 in favor of De La Hoya. Compubox statistics counted Sturm as landing 234 of 541 punches, while counting De La Hoya as landing 188 of 792. [4]

Middleweight Challenge against Hopkins

After that, he hoped to unify that title with the three other world middleweight championships, held by Bernard Hopkins, on September 18. He lost to Hopkins by a ninth round knockout. A left hand to the body sent him to the canvas, knocking De La Hoya out for the first time in his career. Hopkins was ahead on two scorecards by the scores of 79-73 and 78-74, while a third judge had De La Hoya winning 77-75.[5] De La Hoya made $30 million for the fight and Hopkins, who made only $300,000 in a fight just nine months before fighting De La Hoya, got a minimum of $10 million. It was the biggest payday of Hopkins’s career. Hopkins would later join de la Hoya’s own boxing promotion firm; he owns twelve percent of univision Golden Boy Promotions.

Comeback Against Mayorga

De La Hoya faced WBC world junior middleweight Ricardo Mayorga on May 6, 2006 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the opening round, he dropped Mayorga with a right hand followed by a huge left hook. Mayorga rose but walked into another hail of shots and was about to go down for a second time when De La Hoya ripped him with another right hand, but Mayorga grabbed on to De La Hoya to stay up. Mayorga’s only positive moment came in the third, when an uppercut stunned De La Hoya, but Oscar had done more than enough to win the round. In the 6th round, firing punch after punch, De La Hoya dropped Mayorga to his knees, and although Mayorga got up, he was in bad shape. De La Hoya pounced on Mayorga immediately and never stopped firing as Mayorga wilted along the ropes. De La Hoya fired 21 punches, landing the majority of them, forcing referee Nady to step in at 1:25.

Many have thought it would be a close fight because de la Hoya was coming off a long layoff. However, he fought much better than expected and won the bout by a TKO in round 6.

Mayweather Fight

See also: De La Hoya-Mayweather

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De La Hoya did not fight again in 2006, but recently lost his scheduled May 5, 2007 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is the recognized welterweight champion and pound-for-pound number one in the world. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. De La Hoya lost his WBC super welterweight title to Mayweather by a split decision. Early Las Vegas odds had Oscar as a 2-to-1 underdog to the younger Mayweather.

Mayweather showed more speed than his opponent but frustrated De La Hoya and the crowd with his continued covering-up and clinching whenever the champion pressed him against the ropes.

The fight was close throughout, with neither man showing dominance. De La Hoya, constantly pursuing a foe that was clearly wary of standing toe-to-toe with the bigger, more powerful champion, tried to back the challenger against the ropes as often as possible in hopes of landing effective power punches.

Oscar, being the aggressor from the beginning to the end, had trouble landing his powerful left hook. He did catch Mayweather with some solid, straight right hands, but diminished the use of his highly effective jab as the fight wore on, and started to give the challenger more and more room to score from the outside.

Mayweather’s elusiveness, accurate power shots, and activity in the later rounds made a big enough impression on two of the three judges in Las Vegas that night to get the win. Mayweather Jr. won the bout by a split decision, winning the title and improving his record to 38-0. The final scores were 115-113 De La Hoya, 116-112 Mayweather and 115-113 for Mayweather.

It has been reported that Oscar will earn at least $25 million for the fight, and Floyd will earn at least $10 million.^{[citation needed]}

De La Hoya became embroiled in controversy when Freddie Roach, who is training him for the Mayweather fight, admitted in a deposition that De La Hoya brought $250,000 in cash in a suitcase and gave it to super featherweight boxing star Manny Pacquiao as an inducement to try to sign him to a promotional contract. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the story on March 1, 2007, and the Los Angeles Times followed with a report on March 2, 2007.

Amateur Highlights

• 1990 Gold Medalist U.S. Olympic Cup
• 1990 Gold Medalist Goodwill Games
• 1990 Gold U.S. National Championships
• 1991 Gold Medalist USA vs. Olympic Festival
• 1992 Gold Medalist USA vs. Boxing National Championships
• 1992 Gold Medalist USA vs. Bulgaria
• 1992 Gold Medalist World Challenge

Amateur record: 224-5 with 164 knockouts

Professional Record

Pay-Per-View History

Rafael Ruelas( 5/95) 330,000 buys = $9.9 million

Genaro Hernandez(9/95) 220,000 buys = $6.6 million

M.A. Gonzalez(1/97) 345,000 buys = $12.1 million

Pernell Whitaker(4/97) 720,000 buys = $28.8 million

Hector Camacho(9/97) 560,000 buys = $22.4 million

Wilfredo Rivera(12/97) 240,000 buys = $9.6 million

J.C Chavez II( 9/98) 525,000 buys = $23.6 million

Ike Quartey( 2/99) 570,000 buys =$25.7 million

Felix Trinidad(9/99) 1.4 million buys = $71.4 million

Shane Mosley(6/00) 590,000 buys = $29.5 million

Javier Castillejo(6/01) 400,000 buys = $16.0 million

Fernando Vargas(9/02) 935,000 buys = $47.8 million

Yory Boy Campas(5/03) 350,000 buys = $17.5 million

Shane Mosley II( 9/03) 950,000 buys = $48.4 million

Felix Sturm(6/04) 380,000 buys = $19.0 million

Bernard Hopkins(9/04) 1 million buys = $56.0 million

Totals: 9,515,000 buys, generating $444.3 million.^[2]

Life Outside the Ring

Cover to Oscar de la Hoya’s self titled CD from EMI International. Released October 10, 2000

De la Hoya is one of the favorite boxers of American cable channel HBO, where he formerly produced a popular Spanish-language boxing show called Boxeo de Oro. De la Hoya’s interests outside the ring include architecture, acting, fashion designing, and singing. He designed his own house in Big Bear Lake, California, has one clothing line through Mervyns department stores, and released a Grammy-nominated CD, entitled Oscar de la Hoya. Released through EMI International on October 10, 2000, the self-titled CD is a Latin Pop album with thirteen tracks in both English and Spanish. His singing career was ridiculed in MTV, with the hosts telling him to stick to boxing instead.

He married Puerto Rican singer Millie Corretjer on October 5, 2001, and lives in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico. Their first child, Oscar Gabriel, was born on December 29, 2005, in Puerto Rico. An hour after his loss on May 5, 2007, to Floyd Mayweather, Millie told Oscar that she was pregnant again. This will be Millie’s second child, Oscar’s fifth. De la Hoya has three other children: Jacob (b. February 18, 1998) by a woman whose identity is unknown; Devon de la Hoya (b. November 30, 1998) by former Las Vegas showgirl, Angelicque McQueen, (a great niece of film star Steve McQueen) and Atiana Cecilia (b. March 29, 1999) by actress Shanna Moakler. A Santa Barbara woman brought civil charges against De La Hoya for allegedly raping her at his condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 1996 when she was 15. De La Hoya denies the rape but says he settled with the woman “for a very low amount of money.”

In the summer of 2004, de la Hoya starred in and hosted a boxing reality television series on Fox and Fox Sports Net titled The Next Great Champ.

In April 2005, de la Hoya and a Southern California real estate developer, Highridge Partners, formed a real estate investment partnership, named Golden Boy Partners, to invest in Latino neighborhoods.

In September 2005, de la Hoya’s wallet was stolen by a pickpocket. The wallet contained a $1 food stamp coupon, a reminder of his poverty-stricken childhood in East Los Angeles which was very important to him.

Grade 1 Race
Kentucky Derby
“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”
Location	Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Inaugurated:	1875
Race type	Thoroughbred
Website:	2007 Kentucky Derby
Race information
Distance	1¼ miles
Track	Dirt, Left-handed
Qualification	3-year-old
Weight	Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg) Filly: 121 lbs. (54.9 kg)
Purse	US$2 million
Bonuses:	US$ 200

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is over one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg).^[1] The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” for its approximate duration, and is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans. It is the single oldest annually held sporting event in the entire South.

History

A thoroughbred horse is depicted on the reverse of the Kentucky state quarter

Kentucky has been a major center of horse breeding and racing since the late 1700s. From the time the region was settled the fields of the Bluegrass region were noted for producing superior race horses. In 1872, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, traveled to England, visiting the Epsom Derby, a famous race that had been running annually since 1780. From there, Clark went on to Paris, France, where in 1863, a group of racing enthusiasts had formed the French Jockey Club and had organized the Grand Prix de Paris, which eventually became the famous Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Returning home to Kentucky, Clark organized the Louisville Jockey Club for the purpose of raising money to build quality racing facilities just outside of the city. The track would soon become known as Churchill Downs, named for Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.’s relatives, John and Henry Churchill, who had provided the land for the racetrack. Officially, the racetrack was incorporated as Churchill Downs in 1937.

The Kentucky Derby was first run at 1.5 miles (2.4 km), the same distance as the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. In 1896, the distance was changed to its current 1.25 miles (2 km). On May 17, 1875, in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, a field of 15 three-year-old horses contested the first Derby. Under African-American jockey Oliver Lewis, a colt named Aristides, who was trained by future Hall of Famer, Ansel Williamson, won the inaugural Derby. Later that year, Lewis rode Aristides to a second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.

Churchill Downs in 1901

Although the first race meet proved a success, the track ran into financial difficulties and in 1894 the New Louisville Jockey Club was incorporated with new capitalization and improved facilities. Despite this, the business floundered until 1902 when Col. Matt Winn of Louisville put together a syndicate of businessmen to acquire the facility. Under Winn, Churchill Downs prospered and the Kentucky Derby became the preeminent thoroughbred horse race in America.

Between 1875 and 1902, African-American jockeys won 15 of the 28 runnings of the Kentucky Derby. On May 11, 1892, African-American jockey Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, age 15, became the youngest rider to win the Derby. The 1904 race was won by Elwood, the first Derby starter and winner owned by a woman, Laska Durnell. In 1915, Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, and in 1917, the English bred colt “Omar Khayyam” became the first foreign-bred horse to win the race.

Derby participants are limited to three-year-old horses. No horse since Apollo in 1882 has won the Derby without racing at age two.

As part of gaining income, horse owners began sending their successful Derby horses to compete a few weeks later in the Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York. The three races offered the largest purse and in 1919 Sir Barton became the first horse to win all three races. However, the term Triple Crown didn’t come into use for another eleven years. In 1930, when Gallant Fox became the second horse to win all three races, sportswriter Charles Hatton brought the phrase into American usage. Fueled by the media, public interest in the possibility of a “superhorse” that could win the Triple Crown began in the weeks leading up to the Derby. Two years after the term was coined, the race, which had been run in mid-May since inception, was changed to the first Saturday in May to allow for a specific schedule for the Triple Crown races.

On May 3, 1952, the first national television coverage of the Kentucky Derby took place. In 1954, the purse exceeded $100,000 for the first time. In 1968 Dancer’s Image became the first (and to this day the only) horse to win the race and then be disqualified after traces of phenylbutazone, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, were found in the horse’s urinalysis; unexpectedly, the regulations at Kentucky thoroughbred race tracks were changed some years later, allowing horses to run on phenylbutazone.

The fastest time ever run in the Derby (at its present distance) was set in 1973 at 1 minute 59 2/5 seconds when Secretariat broke the record set by Northern Dancer in 1964. Not only has Secretariat’s record time stood for 34 years and counting, but in the race itself, he did something unique in Triple Crown races: each successive quarter, his times were faster.

The 2004 Derby marked the first time that jockeys, as a result of a court order, were allowed to wear corporate advertising logos on their clothing.

In 2005, the purse distribution for the Derby was changed, so that horses finishing fifth would henceforth receive a share of the purse; previously only the first four finishers did so.

Norman Adams has been the designer of the Kentucky Derby Logo since 2002. On February 1, 2006, the Louisville-based fast-food company Yum! Brands, Inc. announced a corporate sponsorship deal to call the race “The Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands.” ^[2]

Traditions

In addition to the race itself, a number of traditions have played a large role in the Derby atmosphere. The Mint Julep, an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and a sugar syrup is the traditional beverage of the race. The historic drink is best served in an ice-frosted silver julep cup but most Churchill Downs patrons sip theirs from a souvenir glass printed with all previous Derby winners. Over 80,000 mint juleps are typically served on Derby Day and the preceding day’s event, The Kentucky Oaks stakes race, which is considered by many to be “the Derby for Fillies.” Also, burgoo, a thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables, is a popular dish at the Derby.

Legal gambling on the race is done through parimutuel betting at the track. The infield, a spectator area inside the track, offers low general admission prices but little chance of seeing much of the race. Instead, revelers show up in the infield to party with abandon. Sobriety is not a common state in the infield on Derby Day and on some occasions even being fully clothed has been optional. By contrast, “Millionaire’s Row” refers to the expensive box seats that attract the rich, the famous and the well-connected. Elegant women appear in fine outfits lavishly accessorized with large, elaborate hats. As the horses are paraded before the grandstands, the University of Louisville marching band plays Stephen Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” while the crowd stands and sings along. Native Kentuckians often surrender to tears as this traditional theme plays.

The Derby is frequently referred to as “The Run for the Roses,” because a lush blanket of 554 red roses is awarded to the Kentucky Derby winner each year. The tradition is as a result of New York socialite E. Berry Wall presenting roses to ladies at a post-Derby party in 1883 that was attended by Churchill Downs president, Col. M. Lewis Clark. This gesture is believed to have eventually led Clark to the idea of making the rose the race’s official flower. However, it was not until 1896 that any recorded account referred to roses being draped on the Derby winner. The Governor of Kentucky awards the garland and the trophy. Pop vocalist Dan Fogelberg composed a song by that title for the 1980 running of the race.

Kentucky Derby Museum

The Kentucky Derby Museum, located on the grounds of Churchill Downs, first opened its doors to the public in the spring of 1984. Much of its early funding came from a donation from the estate of James Graham Brown. The museum seeks to capture the tradition and excitement of “the greatest two minutes in sports”.

It consists of two floors of exhibit space, including a 360-degree theater that shows the HD video “The Greatest Race”. Through the film and exhibts, visitors can learn what goes into the breeding and training of a young foal and the path it takes to the Kentucky Derby’s Winner Circle. Every Kentucky Derby win is honored in the Warner L. Jones Time Machine, where visitors can watch any Kentucky Derby from 1918 to the present day. Exhibits highlight the stories of owners, trainers and jockeys as well as the importance of African American jockeys and trainers to the Thoroughbred industry. Guided tours of Churchill Downs’ barn and infield areas, jockeys’ quarters, millionaires row and press box are also offered.

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References

1. ^ “Tenth Race Churchill May 1, 2004″. May 1, 2004. Daily Racing Forum. Accessed on May 9, 2006.
2. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060517235236/http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/05/news/companies/yum_derby/index.htm

External links

• Kentucky Derby (official site)
• Kentucky Derby
• Kentucky Derby Museum
• The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
• Kentucky Derby Festival
• Kentucky Derby Site
• Map of All Derby Events

Amazingly enough, the shirts were created by the Theta Chi fraternity at Texas Tech in an effort to raise money for the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. According to the Daily Toreador, Texas Tech’s student paper, the t-shirts are no longer being produced, and the frat was kicked off campus as a result.

“We realize the shirts shouldn’t have been printed,” Geoffrey Candia, who created the the shirts. Hindsight is 20-20!