I saw him!

Yes, I couldn’t believe I actually saw him yesterday –even for at least two seconds!
Saw who?? Tada-- MY FIRST LOVE!!! I’m so happy! *giggles*

Mr. Mysterious is none other than OSCAR DELA HOYA. The boxer?? YES. And you heard me right; he certainly IS my first love. *eyebrows*

Was watching the fight between Chavez (son of the legendary Cesar Chavez, Oscar’s idol and the one he [himself] knocked out!) and, who was that? Gosh, can’t believe I actually forget!!!

And so Chavez won with a KO and rejoicing with him on his corner was Oscar himself. He wore his suit with a tiny butterfly tie. Very neat. I believe Chavez is under Oscar’s Golden Boy Promotions for Pro and Amateur (not so sure) boxers. Of course, they are both Mexicans and I expect them to be on the same team.

Oscar looked gentle like he usually does, and seemed not a boxer in the ring. Still haven’t confirmed if he had his retirement. But he had planned to retire early this year and focus on promotions. I can’t blame him; like he said, he’ll never want any of his family to be a boxer, especially his son! *sniff*

Talk about my first love: I’ve “known” Oscar even before I turned sweet 16. I was watching the heavy-weight championship between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson (?) and Oscar’s fight was in the lineup, right before the main event. That’s when he was crowned as new WBC Welterweight Division Champion. He is known as the Golden Boy, having won a gold medal for the US team during the 1996 Olympics. His history as a boxer can be traced as young as seven years old. He barely had 20 fights in his card back then, as a pro, but there’s something about his style that would really blow up for the win. Maybe it’s his extraordinary swiftness and underdog aura that brought him to my attention. But I assure you that boxing fanatics would affirm me saying he’s one of the greatest and most wonderful/powerful fighters in the arena. His blows are solid and focus. You’re dead if his left catches you. XP From that day on I became a fully-pledged Dela Hoya die-hard.

First impression: he is very timid. And all the time I’ve followed his journey in boxing, I have affirmed this fact. Aside from being coy, he has this humble personality which seemed doesn’t even know when to act like “Hey, I’m the Champion here!”. He fights his opponent fairly and respectfully. He honors and commends each one of them. He’s like a young child who’s thankful for a scoop of ice cream. And he was indeed young and was a learner himself (he’s interested with studies—to call him academician, however, I’m not sure if appropriate). With all patience, I waited at least every third month to see another title match defense. I’ve seen almost every fight after that first encounter as the champion until his card gains more numbers and remain undefeated. Every title defense would make me skip a heartbeat—literally. It is very impressive to note that he had taken the last three Division championships before his current division—without being beaten. As in ZERO LOSS. He REALLY is a pro. My family (who’s practically boxing addict) is teasing me to my nerves whenever Oscar has a fight. Maybe I’m just so much of an avid fan to the point that I ‘can’ feel each blow that hits his frame. What they didn’t know, I really ‘liked’ this guy.

Aside from this excellence in the field, what made me love him more were some behind-his-career moments. It’s worth it to mention that he visits his mom’s grave before walking inside the ring. I could identify with him. Yes, his mom died of breast cancer, right after watching him win one of his fights. After gaining some resources, he founded a foundation for patients with breast cancer. His being a boxer wasn’t his choice at all; submissive son he was, setting aside his personal wants to follow his father’s orders. He is the son of Joel Dela Hoya, a former, ‘frustrated’ [pardon my lack of term] boxer who was disappointed with his junior, Oscar’s older brother Joel, for not pursuing boxing. Against his will, Oscar trained himself to be the best fighter that he became. I cried learning the story about his high school prom night. That’s all he ever waited for, to finally attend a ball. Like the usual teenager, he’s excited and was looking forward to that night. Only to find out his father had set a fight for him that same night and made him wear his gloves. Yes, he missed that prom and you can still hear the traces of regrets relating this story. That must have been really tough for him to remember and not let go. Some books even wrote exaggeratedly that he was a ROBOT, being a puppet of his father. Oh, I can say a number other things but it’s just a long story.

Just that two seconds brought a long entry like this! Haha! I missed him. My first love and the only one to break my heart. You should have seen me last May when I learned that he married a Millie Corretjet –only last February! I was just so upset [honestly, I’m surprised myself!], my hands are trembling and I couldn’t breathe right. The next thing I realized, I had to keep those tears from falling.

Pathetic? Maybe. It was unimaginable to act that way. But I did.

Hey, who wants to listen to this entry anyway? I don’t mind. I wanted to blurt out a little. XD

I’m glad I saw him.