The first time retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya saw Las Vegas, he was in a helicopter with the late billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.

De La Hoya, then 18 and living in East Los Angeles, had returned home after winning a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona to a flood of calls from agents, promoters and Kerkorian, the casino mogul and investor, who died in 2015. “This gentleman offered to fly me to Las Vegas,” De La Hoya recalled. “I’m like, ‘Sure, with the permission of my father.’ ”

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas opened in 1993.

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Hovering over the Nevada desert, De La Hoya saw nothing but dirt marked with the letter X. “[Kerkorian] tells me, ‘Son, this is where you’ll be fighting. I’m going to build the MGM.’  The MGM Grand opened in 1993.

“I should have moved to Las Vegas back then,” said De La Hoya, speaking by phone from his newly completed home in nearby Henderson, about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.

Instead, De La Hoya, now 51, moved to Sin City from Pasadena, Calif., in late 2023 with his girlfriend, Holly Sonders, 35, and their microminiature French bulldog, Vida.

Moving represents the next chapter of his career as a boxing promoter,  trying to generate buzz for young fighters and boost the sport’s popularity in Las Vegas. “Las Vegas has always been the epicenter of boxing,” De La Hoya said. “Boxing gave me everything I have; the least I can do is give back.”

Oscar De La Hoya and Holly Sonders moved to Las Vegas last year with Vida, their microminiature French bulldog..

Set on nearly an acre, the house—nicknamed Casa de Oro, or House of Gold—is about 9,000 square feet with a custom tribute room celebrating De La Hoya’s career.

Growing up in East L.A., De La Hoya, the son of Mexican immigrants who came to the U.S. before he was born, said there was little doubt he would become a boxer. “My father was a boxer, my grandfather was a fighter. I started boxing at the age of 5,” he said. Nicknamed Golden Boy after the 1992 Olympics, De La Hoya went on to win 10 world championship titles in six weight classes. He now heads Golden Boy Promotions, a boxing-promotion company he founded around 2002. “I love the sport. Building these young champions is a big thrill for me. Plus, I don’t get hit,” he said.

De La Hoya said he first visited the property in February 2022. Located in MacDonald Highlands a luxury community in the foothills of the McCullough Mountains, the property is on a cul-de-sac with unobstructed views of the Las Vegas Strip.

After buying the as-yet-unbuilt home from developer Blue Heron for $14.6 million, De La Hoya said he spent millions more customizing the modern, one-story home and furnishing it over nearly two years. He and Sonders moved into the house around Thanksgiving in 2023.

The house is configured as a three bedroom, after the couple turned what would have been a fourth bedroom into a glam room with a hair-washing station and pedicure chair for Sonders, a former broadcaster for Fox Sports and the Golf Channel.

The pair, who met in 2021, also turned what would have been a second garage into a man cave for De La Hoya. They spent about $500,000 on the room, which has a golf simulator and an arcade machine with 11,000 games. De La Hoya said the room has a Vegas-nightclub vibe, with black faux-crocodile leather wall coverings, a deep-red velvet sofa and a black-marble bar filled with Tiffany and Baccarat glassware and rare liquors. The room, also displaying Taschen collectible books on Muhammad Ali and Elvis, is accessible via a concealed door in De La Hoya’s office. “I can make it my own getaway or bunker,” he said.

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De La Hoya spent about $500,000 building out a man cave with a golf simulator.

De La Hoya said he was involved in designing every detail of the house, which is filled with modern furniture and earthy tones, with pops of color coming from carefully curated artwork from the Conrad West Gallery in Las Vegas. The couple chose eclectic pieces that reflect their personalities, said gallery owner Claire Conrad. “They had this beautiful home and they did not want ‘decorator art,’ ” she said. De La Hoya and Sonders were easy-going and decisive, she added. “If he likes it, he buys it,” she said.

De La Hoya said one of his favorite pieces is a photograph of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat posing as boxers. He said he was advised to buy the piece in 1994, but recently learned it may not be legitimate and is trying to have it authenticated.

Sonders insisted the couple buy a fiberglass statue reminiscent of the Big Boy restaurant chain’s mascot.

There is also a casino-inspired painting that hung at the local Harrah’s in the 1980s, and a painting from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico—one of the couple’s favorite vacation spots—that Sonders bought for De La Hoya’s birthday in 2021. At the end of the home’s main hallway is a fiberglass statue that is a replica of the Big Boy restaurant chain’s mascot: a boy holding a hamburger aloft. In this case, the boy’s head is on a platter and a hamburger rests on his shoulders. Sonders said growing up in Ohio, it was a treat to go to the chain’s $3.99 buffet, and she insisted they spring for the piece, which is a play on the saying, “You are what you eat.”

Stuffed animals on their bed.

Sonders and De La Hoya said the artwork is meant to add whimsy to the house, but each piece is personal. “We are very focused on what we do,” he said, but “we love to joke around, we don’t take life too seriously.”

The house is also meant for entertaining, with a chef’s kitchen, game room and 19 televisions throughout. Outside, there is an infinity pool with lily pads surrounded by fire pits, chaises, a hot tub and cabana. “A lot of it was Cabo San Lucas-inspired,” said Sonders.

She said one of her key contributions to the house is the tribute room for De La Hoya. The 30-by-30-foot room is encased in glass and has a custom 10-by-10-foot boxing ring. Framed championship belts hang on the walls. Sixteen mannequins dressed in robes from his most famous matchups—including his 1992 Olympic robe—are placed throughout.

“It’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever thought of, or done, for me,” said De La Hoya. “It’s a reminder every single day of who I am and what I built.” (It is also, he quipped, “How I paid for the home.”)

De La Hoya’s man cave has an arcade machine with 11,000 games.

A “tribute room” has 16 mannequins wearing De La Hoya’s fight robes.

There is another side to De La Hoya’s life that isn’t memorialized in the tribute room—namely, the dark side of his rags-to-riches story, depicted in an HBO Original two-part documentary biopic that first aired last year. De La Hoya sat for multiple interviews with filmmakers, who tackled other aspects of his life: the fighter’s relationships with his parents and children (he has six with four women) and stints in rehab. In 2022, De La Hoya was accused of 𝑠e𝑥ual assault, the third time he has faced such allegations. He has denied wrongdoing. A lawsuit related to the most recent allegations is under way.

“I went through a few dark moments, where fame and money was just overwhelming at such an early age,” he said. He said he is finally “at peace,” and is staying focused on building his promoting business and enjoying life with Sonders. He recently started doing yoga again and is an avid golfer, playing three to four times a week.

“The gold medals, the world titles, mean everything, but the fact that I was able to get off the canvas means everything,” he said.

“Moving to Vegas marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life,” he added, “where I can prioritize my happiness and pave the way for a bright future with Holly.”

Overall, Las Vegas’s luxury market is booming because of low taxes, a strong economy, entertainment options and new sports teams. During the fourth quarter of 2023, luxury sales rose 33.9% compared with the fourth quarter of 2022, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin. The median luxury sales price was $1.15 million, down 6.1% year over year.

The current record for the area was set in 2021 when loanDepot founder Anthony Hsieh paid $25 million for a house near De La Hoya’s in MacDonald Highlands. Hsieh listed it for $34 million last year.

De La Hoya said people drive around the community in golf carts and he got one specially outfitted with extra horsepower to get up the hill to his house. He and Sonders regularly visit the community’s clubhouse, which has a sushi bar and a fitness center—an amenity that is surprisingly lacking at their own home. A gym is one thing they’d add, Sonders said, “if we ever build again.”

De La Hoya’s house is set on nearly an acre with expansive views.