Editor’s note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at or at https://www.rainn.org.
An unnamed woman is accusing former boxing star Oscar De La Hoya of two instances of sexual assault that allegedly occurred in 2020, per the Los Angeles Times.
The civil suit was filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles Superior Court by an executive at Casa Mexico Tequila, a company with which De La Hoya is a partner.
The woman alleges that in March 2020, De La Hoya came to her hotel room during her trip to Mexico at the Casa Mexico Tequila distillery. The boxer allegedly banged on her door with his pants around ankles, then pushed his way into her room and got into her bed. “She pushed him from the bed and walked him to his room, opened his door, and immediately returned to her own room,” according to the lawsuit.
The woman alleges that the next morning is when De La Hoya sexually assaulted her after she went to his room to wake him up for the distillery tour. The report alleges that the boxer “pulled [her] into his bed, where he sexually assaulted her.”
This wasn’t the only instance she mentions. Back in Los Angeles, a group involving Casa Mexico executives, the boxer and the woman met for a dinner. When the group went back to De La Hoya’s house, the woman alleges the boxer once again sexually assaulted her.
“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 released a statement following the lawsuit, saying that he denies the allegations against him.
“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,” De La Hoya said. “I am confident my legal team will resolve this matter and prove my innocence.”
The woman says she told Casa Mexico founder Don Buccio about the assaults after they first occurred, but the company took no action. The woman was relatively new at the company at the time, and says she was worried about any backlash.
There are a total of 10 causes of action presented in the civil suit against Casa Mexico, including the De La Hoya allegations. The woman states that she endured sexual harassment, retaliation, gender discrimination and wrongful termination during her time with the company.
“[She] has been severely impacted and has filed a lawsuit to hold [De La Hoya] accountable and those perpetuating toxic masculinity and a hostile work environment where her abuse was not just tolerated, but encouraged and condoned by Casa Mexico’s executives, Michael Gooch and Robert Crossan,” the woman’s lawyer, Sylvia Torres-Guillén, said. “As a survivor of this abuse, she wants others to know this behavior is unacceptable — and it doesn’t matter who you are. We will seek justice on her behalf.”
De La Hoya retired from boxing in 2008, finishing his career with 11 world titles in six weight classes. He continues to work as a boxing promoter.
The 49-year-old was previously accused of sexual assault in 1998 and in 2019. The former case, involving a then-18-year-old woman, was settled outside of court. The woman stated that De La Hoya raped and imprisoned her a few years earlier in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but Mexican authorities ended up not pursuing criminal charges against De La Hoya. It is unclear what became of the 2019 accusations.
De La Hoya previously told the Los Angeles Times that he was raped by a woman over 35 when he was just 13 years old.
