After his destruction of Rafael Ruelas on May 6, 1995, Oscar returned to the ring four months later to face Genaro Hernandez. In a bout dubbed ‘The Rivals’, De La Hoya was facing a far superior boxer in Hernandez than Ruelas was. When my brother came over my house on September 9 to watch the pay-per-view card on my 46″ projection tv, I was in a foul mood. My reason was for the simple fact that I should have been watching this with an opportunity to make big bucks, all ruined by the ‘Atomic Bum’, Oliver McCall a week earlier when he lost to Frank Bruno. My boxing wager plan was shot to hell, and I had a hard time concentrating on this fight, that’s for certain
Oscar shined in the spotlight, and after losing the first round, dominated Hernandez in every round. In the sixth, he broke Genaro’s nose with a right-left combination, forcing his Mexican rival to quit on the stool after the round. I got pissed off when Larry Merchant accused Hernandez of quitting, but it wasn’t him in the ring with a painful broken nose. If Hernandez said the pain was too much to bear, I believed him. As much as I liked Larry, sometimes he spoke out of line, and needed to be told to just “Shut up!”
The stark reality to me was the missed opportunity I just had to make about 6 grand on the Oscar win. That fall was depressing to me, and I searched for stuff to keep me afloat emotionally. A good fight was always an escape for me, but as the year neared an end, I needed a vacation bad!
When Oscar returned to action on December 15, 1995 vs. Jesse James Leija at Madison Square Garden in New York, I was in Vegas to watch it. My youngest sister worked in time-share, and booked me a free week at Polo Towers on the strip. I arrived on December 9, and enjoyed my week relaxing, exercising and having fun. On Friday night, I went to Caesar’s Palace to watch Oscar destroy an overwhelmed Leija in two quick rounds. It was obvious that ‘The Golden Boy was boxing’s biggest star, and one the sport needed desperately.
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