De LA Hoya Has 2nd Great Debut
Los Angeles Daily News - January 18, 2003
As he made his way down to ringside, Oscar De La Hoya took a look around the Grand Olympic Auditorium, his eyes taking in the sight of the near-capacity crowd. De La Hoya's multimillion-dollar smile then beamed across his face.
He had reason to be happy. Just as he did as a fighter taking his first major step, he now was taking his first major step as a promoter, and it was turning into a huge success.
An announced crowd of 5,182 attended the fight card Thursday night at the Olympic, where De La Hoya's promotional firm, Golden Boy Promotions, put on the event.
According to Olympic Auditorium officials, it was the biggest crowd in the history of the venue since it reopened in 1994, outdrawing the 4,600 who came for a card headlined by De La Hoya that same year.
In the main event Thursday, WBC super bantamweight belt holder Oscar Larios (47-3-1, with 33 knockouts) pounded out a unanimous decision over Marcos Licona (19-3-1, eight KOs) in a 10-round nontitle bout. In the co-feature, 2000 U.S. Olmypian and Los Angeles native Jose Navarro (14-0, six KOs) scored a second-round knockout of Carlos Madrigal (20-4, 15 KOs) in a super flyweight bout.
"I'm continuing the history here," De La Hoya said of the Olympic, which in its nearly 80 years has hosted fights featuring boxing greats such as Joe Louis, Joe Frazier, Archie Moore and Julio Cesar Chavez. "My goal is to make sure the history never dies down."
