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LOS ANGELES, May 03, 2008 (The Sacramento Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- You could say his business career began here, on the other side of the river. He was a mere mocoso -- a snot-nosed youngster -- toiling the gritty blocks of East Los Angeles while pushing an ice cream cart and selling his wares for spare change.

Off in the hazy distance, across the bridges connecting the barrio to downtown Los Angeles, twinkling skyscrapers teased. So close, yet so far was never more apt than for a kid wanting to lift himself out of "East Los" and set up shop downtown as a successful businessman.

Oscar De La Hoya, now 35, was that kid harboring that seemingly impossible American dream. Consider it realized. Many times over. Because instead of hawking ice cream from a cart, De La Hoya now owns an 11-story building in the heart of downtown, on the corner of Wilshire and, appropriately enough, Hope.

The Golden Boy, a gold medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, has gone corporate. No longer merely some multimillionaire world champion boxer with a smile as disarming to Madison Avenue as Los Angeles' downtown library tower is tall, De La Hoya has become a business entity unto himself.

Having made some $225 million in the ring, he has stakes in such varied business interests as real estate, publishing, sports and entertainment, and grocery stores, and he is eyeing banking.

Lest you forget, at the core of the Golden Boy business empire is what got him here -- boxing.

Which is why, two days before what he says is the first of the last three fights of his Hall of Fame career, the third floor of the Golden Boy Building was a beehive of activity.

De La Hoya, a 10-time world champion in six weight classes who has not fought since losing a split decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. a year ago, will meet former lightweight titlist Steve Forbes tonight in a junior-middleweight bout at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center.

It is De La Hoya's first fight in the Los Angeles area since 2000. It is being shown on HBO, rather than pay per view, and tickets were sold for as little as $25. The promotion is billed as De La Hoya's homecoming.

Yet there is a melancholy feeling to it all. De La Hoya, who lives in Puerto Rico with wife Millie and two of his children, has long struggled with acceptance from Los Angeles' burgeoning Latino community, despite his heritage and fistic and fiscal success.

"It all started when I fought (Julio Cesar) Chavez," in 1996, De La Hoya said of the bloody mess he made of the Mexican legend in 1996 with a fourth-round stoppage.

"It all started when I fought (Julio Cesar) Chavez," De La Hoya said of his bloody fourth-round technical knockout of the Mexican legend in 1996. "A lot of things I've done have been overshadowed by, I don't want to say hate, but a lot of negativity."

Long labeled a sellout since simply moving from his old neighborhood to nearby Montebello and for the, ahem, unpardonable sin of professing his love for golf, De La Hoya has battled perception problems within his own community. That made a chance encounter last Saturday at Dodger Stadium, where he threw out the ceremonial first pitch, all the more telling.

"This homeboy with a shaved head and tattoos on his forehead came up to me and said, 'Hey, you beat Chavez, my idol. But that's OK, because you've shown you deserved it.' "

There have been a few breakthrough moments over the years, such as his racially charged fight against Fernando Vargas in 2002. Vargas claimed he was the "real Mexican," only to be knocked out in the 11th.

More vindication has come with De La Hoya's charitable foundation, as he has poured millions back into his community. He opened a youth center on the Eastside, a neonatal and cancer treatment center in his late mother's name and a charter school in his name is scheduled to open in fall 2009.

"I'm not sure if I've won them over," De La Hoya said, "but I hope I've left with them with (a good feeling)."

De La Hoya was in peril of becoming another boxing cautionary tale early in his career. Wild spending, legal issues and partying were the culprits. Then he met Swiss banker Richard Schaefer, an uncle by marriage to one of De La Hoya's oldest friends.

They hit it off immediately and trusted each other with their livelihoods. Schaefer gave up the sanctity and sanity of banking for the often shadowy world of boxing. De La Hoya believed in Schaefer enough to let him control his money.

"He had made millions, but he faced many legal problems, whether it was with managers, promoters, women," Schaefer said. "There was a lot of baggage. I told him he needed to take care of the legal issues, take the bricks off your shoulders and gum off your fingers and establish a base. Oscar learned responsibility. (That) made him mature tremendously."

The second part of Schaefer's business blueprint was to "start implementing the future, start planting the seeds" with a real estate portfolio.

"Seventy percent of all lasting fortunes made in this country were formed in real estate," Schaefer said.

With real estate magnate John Long, they have formed Golden Boy Enterprises to invest in Latino community housing.

Schaefer, 47 and CEO of Golden Boy, said he molded De La Hoya's business investments after the Berkshire Hathaway model. Many see correlations with former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson's heavy investment in African American communities.

Schaefer sees De La Hoya doing the same, but in the relatively untapped-by-corporate America Latino neighborhoods. Latinos comprise the largest minorty group in America at 44.3 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

More evidence of De La Hoya's business acumen -- he will enter the ring tonight wearing the colors of his newest acquisition, Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo.

Then there's this: Two fighters who have beaten De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Shane Moseley, are now vice presidents with Golden Boy Promotions, which has 58 fighters in its stable, including Sacramento-area fighters Vicente Escobedo and Juan Lazcano.

As a drawing power, Hopkins compared De La Hoya to Muhammad Ali and Ray Robinson.

"You're going to have to go to detox when Oscar leaves," Hopkins said. "Enjoy him while he's here."

Even when he's gone, his legacy will endure. A bronze statue of the hometown hero De La Hoya soon will be placed outside of Staples Center, next to those of fellow Los Angeles sports icons Johnson and Wayne Gretzky.

A celebratory paleta, anyone?

"I'm blown away," De La Hoya said. "I'm going to drive by it every day, just to make sure they don't egg it."

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Paul Gutierrez

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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