Las Vegas has always been Oscar De La Hoya’s town, it is where he crafted his legendary boxing career and fought his most memorable fights. Now the 49 year-old, father of six, is throwing his hat in the ring, politically that is.
Speaking on Inside Boxing Live with Dan Canobbio, De La Hoya who at one point was thinking of making a presidential bid in 2024 against supposed future Republican candidate Donald Trump, has pulled out of that idea but did see running for mayor in a different light.
“There might be some opportunities in Vegas to run for mayor. Imagine that? It’ll be interesting to see if I can make a run for mayor in Las Vegas”, the pound for pound great stated.
The complexities for De La Hoya to run for Las Vegas mayor
While Oscar De La Hoya has huge popularity and fame in Las Vegas a run for mayor does not sound as simple as the promoter stated. De La Hoya has a few skeletons in his closet with issues ranging for substance abuse, allegations that he sexually harassed and assaulted an employee, and pictures of the former boxer cross dressing, which political opponents would use against the Houston Dynamo minority owner.
De La Hoya is reported to be building a home in Las Vegas and his promotion company Golden Boy Promotions is doing better than ever. Las Vegas has turned into a new sports market with an NFL team and the possibilities of an NBA team and MLS team coming in.
De La Hoya is not the first celebrity to try his hands in politics, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger were both Governors of California and famed former WWE commentator and wrestler Jesse Ventura was Governor of Minnesota.