(Props: UnivisionNews1)
Usually we only bring up boxing when it involves Floyd Mayweather Jr. getting arrested or sued or talking shit about MMA. But we wanted to pass along Oscar De La Hoya‘s bombshell new interview with Univision, in which the boxing legend discusses the personal demons that have haunted him over the past few years. After entering treatment at the Betty Ford Center in May, De La Hoya is now three months’ sober, and in the process of rebuilding his life. Some highlights from the interview:
On his lowest point: ”Rock bottom was recently, within a couple of years. Just thinking, ‘Is my life was even worth it?’ I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the courage to take my own life, but I was thinking about it.”
On substance abuse: ”There were drugs. My drug of choice was cocaine and alcohol. Cocaine was recent, in the last two years, last two-and-a-half years. And I depended more on the alcohol than the cocaine. It took me to a place where I felt safe. It took me to a place where I felt like if nobody can say anything to me. It took me to a place where I can reach out and just grab my mom, who passed away when I was younger. I was dependent on those drugs.”
On infidelity: “I don’t consider myself a sex addict. I’ve been unfaithful to my wife. I was unfaithful. [More than once], yes. We’re obviously not talking a Tiger Woods here, but I was unfaithful. It was filling the void of maybe not feeling loved to a certain point. It was filling the void of maybe not feeling safe.”
On rehab and recovery: ”Before I left Malibu, after seven weeks, I paid for another three weeks. It’s something I feel I have to do to keep me in check, [to] make sure that I’m jabbing ‘the monster’ you know, and keeping him at distance. We call it ‘the monster, it’s always there, it’s always there when you’re walking out the door, it’s always there behind you, shadowing you. And the more I’m prepared, the better I can fight this monster off. It’s the biggest fight of my life…I could put Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, [Fernando] Vargas, I could put all of my opponents in one ring and battle all of them, but this monster is gonna be the toughest fight of my life. But I’ll be ready.”
Semi-related: Five MMA Fighters Who Beat Addiction