roheblius's Full Review: Oscar De la Hoya and Steve Springer - American Son...
When I heard that Oscar De La Hoya was writing his autobiography, I was intrigued. But I was intrigued more so because I wanted to see what kind of stories he would tell, than if the book was going to be well written, or a great overall story. I know the story. I grew up watching the story.
De La Hoya won Olympic Gold in 1992 and exploded into pro boxing after that. He won titles at six different weight classes and is the number one drawing card in all of boxing, and maybe of all time. He is also a business man and has started Golden Boy Promotions, as a way to have a career in boxing when he can no longer lace up the gloves.
De La Hoya is also a notorious ladies man. He's had a few kids out of wedlock and was just as famous for his partying and woman chasing as he was for being a really good boxer. I didn't know how honest he would be in telling these stories and he doesn't shy away from them. He acknowledges his mistakes as a young man and even says that his first child was the result of an agreement, rather than love. But this isn't a gossip rag and I wouldn't have expected De La Hoya to go into a ton of detail about his bachelor status and groupie love. Just the fact that he addresses his mistakes as a young man is a plus. It shows some honesty.
What I wanted more from De La Hoya was what goes on in the mind of a boxer, especially one who is as good as he was, but not as good as was required from hardcore boxing pundits who are very critical of guys who go mainstream. De La Hoya wasn't as heroic to the Mexican fans as someone like Julio Cesar Chavez. And to the American crowd, while he was definitely respected by the Americans, he also had a heavy fan base with the women and children, so there is definitely a jealousy problem there with male fans. He does talk about the issue in good detail and especially around the time of both fights with Chavez, where he had to not only fight Chavez, but an entire fan base who loved and adored Chavez, which made him the natural bad guy to them. But in a 260 page book, there's only so much you can discuss. In these cases, these guys really need to do two books. I would've loved more detail in his fights with Sugar Shane Mosely and Felix "Tito" Trinidad, as well as his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., which turned out to be the biggest money fight in boxing history. But those fights are kind of rushed through because as his life story, he wanted to discuss more things than just his boxing matches.
He talks a lot about how he met his wife Millie, and how she wasn't really impressed with his status, which made it a bit challenging for a guy who had women falling at his feet for him. He also talks about his growth as a business man and how he was really treated with kid gloves early on until he met Richard Schaefer, who helped him grow as a business man and maximize the Oscar De La Hoya brand. There's also an interesting story surround his relationship with his father that probably mirrors many father/son relationships.
It's a quick read and there's not a ton of stuff you're going to learn about Oscar De La Hoya, but the book feels honest and sounds very much like it's in his voice, which is a nod to LA Times writer Steve Springer, who is the coauthor. It's not a fantastic sports biography and the stories won't knock your socks off, but it gives you a decent sized inside look at boxing's biggest superstar.
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