B&C/MCN honored boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya for a lifetime of achievement in Hispanic television during a ceremony at the Eighth Annual Hispanic Television Summit Sept. 29 at the New York Hilton.
De La Hoya received a standing ovation from the audience as he took the stage to accept the award.
The Golden Boy warmed up the crowd with a joke, saying "Back in 1992, George Foreman told me, ‘Son, you're gonna be a star.' To which I said ‘George, I have this idea, if you tilt a barbeque a few degrees...,'" he trailed off to laughs. "I still haven't seen any royalties."
He went on to thank his wife, whom he called "the brains behind the brawn," for sticking behind him 100% and giving him two wonderful kids. He also thanked Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Mark Taffet at HBO PPV.
As a boxer, De La Hoya generated a record $700 million in pay-per-view revenue, and now aims to break his own mark as president of Golden Boy Promotions Inc. The company recently signed a three-year contract to stage fights at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, the future home of the New Jersey Nets.
"This is the beginning, the beginning of something very special," he said
De La Hoya credited his mother, who died of cancer shortly before he won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, with inspiring him to be a role model for the sport, and not just a world champion. His Oscar De La Hoya Foundation opened a memorial cancer center in her name and runs a charter high school in East Los Angeles, in addition to various after school programs.
"The success I've had inside the ring is a vehicle to do bigger and better things," he said. "For me, that is helping to create awareness for this horrible disease and for education."
