'The Golden Boy' kicked off his pro career at the end of 1992 after grabbing Olympic Gold in Barcelona. He quickly became a big name in boxing, winning world titles across six weight classes. His resume includes wins over tough opponents like Ike Quartey, Pernell Whitaker, and Julio Cesar Chavez.
De La Hoya's career lasted 15 years and saw him rack up 45 fights. But it wasn't all smooth sailing - he lost six times along the way.
One of those losses came against Floyd Mayweather Jr in May 2007. Mayweather took De La Hoya's WBC light middleweight title by decision. After that fight, there was talk of a rematch scheduled for May 2008.
But De La Hoya knew he wasn't up for it. He told Club Shay Shay:
"No, no [I couldn't beat him in the rematch]. My body was breaking down. My body was over it, that was the last straw. I felt it in the 7th and 8th round because my jab is my weapon, I throw my jab and nobody can beat me and I just couldn't throw it so it was over, my body was breaking down. I fought [Manny] Pacquiao and I was a dead man walking."
The rematch with Mayweather never happened. Instead, De La Hoya fought Steve Forbes 12 months after the Mayweather bout. He won that non-title showdown in California by unanimous decision.
But the writing was on the wall. Seven months after beating Forbes, De La Hoya stepped into the ring for the last time. He faced Manny Pacquiao and lost by stoppage. That was the 45th and final fight of his pro career.
De La Hoya hung up his gloves not long after the Pacquiao loss, bringing an end to his stellar time in the ring.