A new two-part documentary on the life and career of famed boxer Oscar De la Hoya is premiering on HBO on Monday.
Entitled “The Golden Boy,” the documentary explores De La Hoya’s story from his beginnings in the sport to becoming “The Golden Boy of boxing.” The doc’s director, Fernando Villena, was excited to be able to tell the boxer’s story like it hasn’t been told before.
“Being Latino and being able to work on a project about a Latino icon, it’s super exciting. I had never had that opportunity before,” said Villena. “Once I started digging into the story — I didn’t really follow boxing, and I didn’t really follow his career all that closely — when I started to do the research, I realized there was a big story there.”
Villena got right to work meeting with De La Hoya, interviewing several times over the course of a year. When Villena asked De La Hoya why now, the boxer said it was time to tell his truth.
“I knew in doing the research that there was a lot to unpack, there was a lot to do as far as telling the truth, and that’s what he wanted to do,” said Villena. “It was gonna be a process, and he was like, ‘I want to do it by any means possible.’ And to his credit, that’s what he did.”
The first part of the documentary examines De La Hoya’s upbringing in East Los Angeles, looking at everything from a promise the boxer made to his dying mother to his preparations for the Olympics, which ultimately led him to become a media sensation. Despite the fame and popularity, the documentary explores the turmoil that was lurking with De La Hoya.
The second part takes a look at De la Hoya’s boxing empire and how it has grown into the founding of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as the launch of his Latin pop music album. However, De La Hoya’s self-destructive behavior not only continues to put a toll on his personal relationships, but his public image as well.
“The first episode is more about his rise, but it’s also focused on the trauma he endured as a young person. The second part is more focused on the pain that he and those in his life felt because of some of his actions,” said Villena. “It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion. Until we get to the very end, and at the core of this, it’s a person who is looking back on his life and he realizes that he wished he could do things differently. But the past is the past and he has an opportunity to transform himself.”
As De La Hoya’s story unfolded before him, Villena says that it became clear that the boxer is living two lives: his public life, which has been curated for those in the public to see, and his private life, which ultimately ended up spilling into his public persona.
“This private life, which he tried very hard to keep private and ultimately kind of did pill out into the public, he’s never had the opportunity to speak to it on this level with this honesty,” said Villena. “I don’t want to speak for Oscar, but I do think it was a cathartic experience for him.”
Villena also noted that this documentary gives De La Hoya’s children a voice, even if it doesn’t paint the most flattering picture of De La Hoya.
“With Oscar giving everybody free rein to just speak their minds, then it was pretty easy to get the result we ultimately got, which was an honest, raw, candid portrait of Oscar, and I think was cathartic for him to say these things on camera,” said Villena. “In a lot of ways, he’s more comfortable in front of a camera, I understand now that now, he’s grown up in front of a camera. And the ring is where he feels safest, but in front of a camera would be number two, I think. He’s a very brave guy, it took a lot of courage to do what he did.”
Villena hopes that those who watch the doc see what it took for De La Hoya to bare his soul on camera and let his truth out.
“There’s power in the truth. I thank a lot of people are afraid of telling the truth, they don’t want to hurt people or they don’t want to hurt themselves. But there’s power in telling the truth. Whatever you think about Oscar in the end, because there’s a lot of unflattering stuff that comes out in this documentary, I hope you can appreciate the courage it took for him to do what he did and to share his story,” said Villena. “There’s a lot of courage there and I think come next week, he’s going through a process now that it’s all out there in the world. I think it’s gonna be a good thing for him in the end.”
“The Golden Boy” premieres on HBO on July 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, with the second part of the documentary premiering on July 25 at the same time. Both parts will be available on Max at 9 p.m. on July 24.
