A civil suit has been filed against Oscar De La Hoya, the former world champion boxing superstar and current promoter for Golden Boy, accusing him of two instances of sexual assault in 2020.
The Los Angeles Times first reported that a civil suit has been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by a woman who worked for De La Hoya’s tequila brand.
“The woman alleges that during a trip to Mexico in March 2020 to visit the Casa Mexico Tequila distillery, De La Hoya banged on her hotel room door “with his pants dropped down to his ankles, then pushed his way into the room, and got into her bed,” according to the lawsuit. “She pushed him from the bed and walked him to his room, opened his door, and immediately returned to her own room.”
The next morning De La Hoya wasn’t present when the Casa Mexico group assembled to tour the distillery, and the woman went to his room to wake him. She alleges in the lawsuit that De La Hoya “pulled [her] into his bed, where he sexually assaulted her.”
De La Hoya, who is a partner in the company, assaulted her again when the group returned to Los Angeles, the woman alleges. A group of Casa Mexico executives that included De La Hoya and the woman dined at a restaurant, then went to De La Hoya’s house.
“At some point, when De La Hoya was alone with [the woman], he revealed and retrieved a sexual object from a stored collection in his house. Without [her] consent, De La Hoya forcibly inserted the sexual object into [her] body,” the lawsuit states.
De La Hoya also released a statement:
“With the 24-hour news cycle we all find ourselves in, more often than not, malicious and unjust accusations are interpreted as truth without the evidence to support their erroneous claims. I am confident my legal team will resolve this matter and prove my innocence.”
De La Hoya, now 49, was previously accused of sexual assault in 1998, and settled out of court on that case in 2001.
De La Hoya last fought in 2008. He scheduled a comeback in 2021 but did not follow through, and has since said he is unlikely to do another fight.