Did veteran boxer Oscar De La Hoya overdose on drugs early on in his career?

Oscar De La Hoya was set to face former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in a high-profile boxing match on September 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. However, the former world champion tested positive for COVID-19, and had to withdraw from the bout with a week to go.

Ahead of the fight, Oscar De La Hoya made a shocking revelation on Jeremy Piven's 'How U Livin J Piven' podcast. 'The Golden Boy' said that over the years, he has come close to death on multiple occasions. One of those occasions involved a near-fatal drug overdose shortly after his retirement.

Oscar De La Hoya revealed that the news was covered up by his "minions", and the doctors involved so that he did not earn a bad reputation.

"This was once after I retired. Within those ten years of just losing myself I ended up just f***ing overdosing. Nobody knew. Doctor’s hid it, and it’s like I have f***ing minions that just hide everything, right? If Oscar does something? F***ing hide it. I’d be out in the street at five in the morning, just walking like a zombie, almost getting run over on the freeways – sh*t like that. Pretty bad, pretty bad," Oscar De La Hoya said.

It is not a secret that Oscar De La Hoya struggled with addiction for a better part of his career and even after retirement. In a 2011 interview with 'Univision', the Hall-of-Fame boxer revealed that he hit rock bottom that year, struggling heavily with addiction. He even contemplated suicide.

"Rock bottom was recently. 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. There were drugs; my drug of choice was cocaine and alcohol. Cocaine was recent, the last two years, last two-and-a-half years, and I depended more on the alcohol than the cocaine," Oscar De La Hoya said.

Oscar De La Hoya went on to reveal that he later regretted going down that path.

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Oscar De La Hoya sends an emotional message from hospital bed

The veteran boxer's return to the squared circle since his TKO loss to Manny Pacquiao was disrupted by after he contracted COVID-19.

Oscar De La Hoya provided the update in an emotional video posted from his hospital bed earlier on Friday. He said that he contracted the virus despite being fully vaccinated.

I am currently in the hospital getting treatment and am confident I will be back in the ring before the year is up. God bless everyone and stay safe.

— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) September 3, 2021

He'll now be replaced by another veteran boxer, Evander Holyfield. But CSAC did not allow Evander Holyfield to compete on such short notice because of his age.

So the event has reportedly moved to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, just outside Miami.

Holyfield and Belfort fight card won’t be in California. CSAC won’t approve Holyfield because of age. Sauces say it’s going to be at the Hard Rock in Seminole, Florida.

— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) September 3, 2021