Oscar De La Hoya has no one to blame but himself as boxing's Golden Boy opens up about bad behavior - New York Daily News

Tim Smith

Originally Published:Wednesday, August 31st 2011, 2:38 PM
Updated: Wednesday, August 31st 2011, 2:38 PM

Gabriel Bouys/Getty

Oscar De La Hoya tells Univision about his battles with drugs and alcohol in recent interview.

Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed what those in boxing have known for some time - he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and he cheated on his wife. This falls under the heading of another bad-boy athlete doing the wrong things.

De La Hoya made the admission during an interview on the Spanish-language TV network Univision. He also said in his darkest moments he considered suicide.

"Rock bottom was recently," he said. "Within a couple of years, just thinking if 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."

The tarnished Golden Boy.

This is all poignant stuff, played out before a television audience. While confession may be good for the soul, it doesn't absolve poor judgment and bad behavior.

It seems there is a chapter in the sports/celebrity PR handbook that covers this: Athlete or celebrity behaves badly, blames it on alcohol and drugs or some other addiction (sex is popular). Goes into rehab, comes out, admits problems publicly, seeks sympathy, awaits public forgiveness, and continues with life as if nothing happened. If you can complete this course in six months, you can probably not realize any significant loss in earnings.

De La Hoya even invoked the name of Tiger Woods, apparently now considered the ultimate in bad behavior, saying about the golfer's infidelity, "We are obviously not talking a Tiger Woods here, but I was unfaithful."

I'm not minimizing De La Hoya's or anybody else's problems with drugs, alcohol, sex addiction or anything else that's harmful. I'm happy that De La Hoya realized he had a problem, sought help by checking into rehab in May, and now appears to be on his way to recovery. He says he's been sober for three months now. That is truly commendable.

But where is the personal accountability for his poor judgment and bad behavior? A man who was disciplined enough to train and box for more than 30 years surely must have been able to exercise some discipline in his personal life. What about the personal wreckage that he's left in his wake - a strained marriage, a damaged reputation? What about the embarrassment that he's caused his wife and the confusion that his children must be going through?

He has no one to blame for that but himself and he shouldn't be let off the hook for that. And neither should those around him who covered up his drug and alcohol problems.

Everyone in boxing knew that De La Hoya had trouble with alcohol. Early in his career there were stories of wild nights at nightclubs in Cabo San Lucas where he partied like a frat boy on spring break. There were the lawsuits that followed all those wild nights. There was always someone there to cover up the mess or sweep it aside to keep it from blowing up publicly.