BoxRec

Goes to show no matter how much money you have, boxers and sportspeople in general often seem to have a lot of difficulty adjusting to their new life after they have retired.

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/1807 ... days-fight

Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions, has announced he will miss the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez fight Saturday in Las Vegas because he will be in rehab.

De La Hoya has had ongoing problems with substance abuse. Alvarez is his company’s star attraction.

“Canelo Alvarez and I have big fights coming up this weekend. His is the ring and mine in treatment,” De La Hoya said in a prepared statement. “I will not be at the fight to cheer Canelo to victory since I have voluntarily admitted myself into a treatment facility.

“I explained this to Canelo and he understood that my health and longterm recovery from my disease must come first.Thank you for your understanding. I ask for your support and privacy during this difficult time for me and my family.”

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer spoke to RingTV.com's Mark Ortega regarding De La Hoya's development.

"If you break your leg you can't go and say, 'I'm gonna go next week to the doctor.' You have to deal with these things as they happen. It was extremely important for Oscar to get the help he needed now," said Schaefer, indicating that De La Hoya's absence could go beyond this weekend and perhaps beyond his exiting rehab.

"I think his focus now isn't, 'Let me go to rehab and come right back out and jump into Golden Boy.' I think it's going to be awhile. He really realized it's a matter of focus and importance. He realizes what is important. It's about his life, about his health, it's about his family as well. Those three things are much more important than anything else."

The wear and tear of a 10-city press tour could of had an impact on De La Hoya's current predicament. Jetting around the country from place to place can often not be conducive to a sober lifestyle.

"If you are somebody who battles that illness, that disease, I think being around these things, yes. It's certainly not a conductive environment for somebody with that kind of disease to be around the boxing scene and you guys know that," said Schaefer.

"You're surrounded by temptations, and even for someone with a strong character and personality, to be around the boxing circus, there are bad influences all around. We obviously wish him well and, as they say, the show must go on."

I see the numb-nuts are out in force on Ring TVs website.

I hope Oscar manages to overcome the challenges he faces and has a healthy future.

Wasn't long ago that Oscar was making an "announcement to shock the world of boxing", that announcement turned out to be the fact he'd been sober for something like 6 weeks...I tend to agree with "the numb nuts" due to his history of thinking he's THAT important. He should have gone in silence and had his treatment rather than releasing it to the press 3 or 4 days before the biggest fight of the year. The timing stinks I'm afraid.

Maybe, although I guess if he didn't attend the fight there would be speculation about why the company's figurehead wasn't at its biggest fight? I tend to reserve judgement about the issues people face in their lives ('walk a mile in my shoes' and all that). Each to their own.

i find what americans call being an alcoholic or drug addict very different from what i do , i met a america on holiday and he was telling me he's an alcoholic and that he goes to AA meetings all the time he was about 30 years old i asked him when he last drunk and it was when he was 19 , it turns out that as a teenager he liked to drink beer at the weekend now isn't that what normal teenagers do or am i out of touch here but how does getting pissed at the weekend 12 years before make you an addict .
any way i'm sure oscar will be all right once the fight is done and he doesn't have to deal with floyd any more ..

Addiction comes in many guises. Drinking, drugs, gambling, it`s a pretty bad disease and one that gets worse over time unless dealt with.

I have never considered myself an alcoholic, although I do like a drink and often drink more than is good for me, but it does not effect my daily life or work.

Gambling however is a different story. I am a recovering gamblaholic and it is a constant struggle every day. I never placed bets on sports events, boxing, racing, football etc, but I was heavily into financial spreadbetting and futures trading for many years.

It is the thrill of "winning" that kept me coming back, the delusions of what i would do with the money when I won big time. The truth is there is never enough, never a figure when you can say "right I`m happy with that". I`d keep chasing losing trades hoping for a turn around, losing a fortune in the process. All the while you have to go home to your family knowing that you have spunked away tens of thousands and they know nothing about it. It starts to eat you up and you get sucked deeper in trying to turn things around.

I have learned the hard way that the most expensive word in trading is "it can`t go any lower than this level". It can and it does.

For me I had to come clean with the family and seek help. It`s been nigh on 8 months, but every day I check the markets, thinking about what i could have made if I`d have been on that trade. it`s torture.

Any kind of addiction is a terrible thing and if Oscar has these problems then I wish him well in overcoming them.

People say they can`t understand how a man like him, seemingly with everything to make him happy, has the need to destroy himself. That`s the irony of addiction, it does not differentiate.

For some people a pint down the pub and a flutter on the horses is more than enough, for others not matter have much they have, it will never ever be enough. That is addiction and it is a disease. A horrible one.

You can`t walk in another man`s shoes.

I am an alcoholic.

wonder if Floyd will mention this on the final Access all Areas thing.

Who will deliver the "blueprint" to Canelo now ?

mickey1975 wrote:I am an alcoholic.

me too but functioning alright.

palooka wrote:

mickey1975 wrote:I am an alcoholic.

me too but functioning alright.

i aint got a problem with drink .....i like it

Say what you like about him, his issues and his persona.... he helped carry the sport during his pomp with some real mega fights that got the world talking about the sport.

I wish him the best.

I was wondering why we have been seeing more and more of Richard Schaeffer as a public figure, almost the figurehead, of GPB now.... maybe we sadly have our answer.

I have a severe drug problem...just can't find a reliable dealer!

stujones wrote:Say what you like about him, his issues and his persona.... he helped carry the sport during his pomp with some real mega fights that got the world talking about the sport.

I wish him the best.

I was wondering why we have been seeing more and more of Richard Schaeffer as a public figure, almost the figurehead, of GPB now.... maybe we sadly have our answer.

To be honest im not sure how Oscar has to do with the daily running of the business. I think it's Schaefer and the other exec's there that do most of the work I imagine.

I have the hangover of an alcoholic.

In all seriousness, I hope Oscar can beat his addiction. My old man was a functioning alcoholic for a number of years and it's a tough nut to crack.

mickey1975 wrote:I am an alcoholic.

Wouldn't say I'm an alcoholic but I like the old fine ale most days people tell me who r close to me say different I do make excuses to the wife that its my mate s bday just to get out ie watch football but really don't like football I joined the darts team so I could get out etc etc ETc you can guess how many excuses I bring up

Watched Oscar earlier on Access All Areas and he sounded like Speedy Gonazles on helium! I didn't know he'd been readmitted at the time and was wondering if he'd always sounded like that, contrary to my own memory, but this puts it in perspective.

tear up wrote:

mickey1975 wrote:I am an alcoholic.

Wouldn't say I'm an alcoholic but I like the old fine ale most days people tell me who r close to me say different I do make excuses to the wife that its my mate s bday just to get out ie watch football but really don't like football I joined the darts team so I could get out etc etc ETc you can guess how many excuses I bring up

Were you drinking a super Tennent as you wrote that?

columbo wrote:

stujones wrote:Say what you like about him, his issues and his persona.... he helped carry the sport during his pomp with some real mega fights that got the world talking about the sport.

I wish him the best.

I was wondering why we have been seeing more and more of Richard Schaeffer as a public figure, almost the figurehead, of GPB now.... maybe we sadly have our answer.

To be honest im not sure how Oscar has to do with the daily running of the business. I think it's Schaefer and the other exec's there that do most of the work I imagine.

True absolutely, but what I meant was more and more Schaefer is becoming the face, the figurehead of GBP.... as if they do not feel comfortable with Oscar being paraded on the TV (is he so off his face he will be a realiable as Gazza).

Basically in the last 3/4 months or so, Schaefer has been doing more of what Oscar used to do... infront of the camera work.

stujones wrote:

columbo wrote:

stujones wrote:Say what you like about him, his issues and his persona.... he helped carry the sport during his pomp with some real mega fights that got the world talking about the sport.

I wish him the best.

I was wondering why we have been seeing more and more of Richard Schaeffer as a public figure, almost the figurehead, of GPB now.... maybe we sadly have our answer.

To be honest im not sure how Oscar has to do with the daily running of the business. I think it's Schaefer and the other exec's there that do most of the work I imagine.

True absolutely, but what I meant was more and more Schaefer is becoming the face, the figurehead of GBP.... as if they do not feel comfortable with Oscar being paraded on the TV (is he so off his face he will be a realiable as Gazza).

Basically in the last 3/4 months or so, Schaefer has been doing more of what Oscar used to do... infront of the camera work.

Yeah you're right. I imagine Oscar has been spending most of his time snorting coke aswell to be honest which is probably another reason why he hasnt been in front of the camera's

Sober for the last seven months personally

Good luck Oscar, change the people you hang around with, break the cycle

You can have amazing fun without drink, drugs, gambling and hookers and it is cheaper! ( I know with all 4 of these together I have had some of the times of my life but also without them).

The problem is, using, that you get so used to it, it becomes the norm, the reality is that you forget how good things were when not involved heavily in these things and any big necessary change is scarey, the ultimate goal of ridding yourself of all or any of these evils for some, takes more work than winning a world title.

Your drug of choice be it glue, booze, smack, sex, self harming, sniffing panties, whatever, the drug of choice is NOT your friend, when you are doing it, it is your best friend but ultimately it will destroy you and when you are in a box, that drug of choice will be alive and well somewhere without you.

I do agree that different people have different deffinitions of when rehab is required but the constant is that if you truely believe you have a problem and seek professional help, you need it. If you think you need help and don't seek it, you have a bigger problem.

I have tried everything life has to offer and I can say that drink without doubt to me is the deadliest substance man has made.

Good luck Oscar.

I'm not joking. I have months off, but when I hit it, I hit very hard. Been hospitalised six times for detoxes. The rattle is unbelievably bad.

mickey1975 wrote:I'm not joking. I have months off, but when I hit it, I hit very hard. Been hospitalised six times for detoxes. The rattle is unbelievably bad.

sorry to hear this....but its not stopped you tearing into kell brook for the occasional drink....