De La Hoya, Ortiz Appear On “Piers Morgan,” Who Steers Clear of TMZ Territory…WOODS

Some of those photo still look Photoshopped to EM! (Who is by the way Facebook friends with Milana Dravnel…) (Hogan)

Oscar De La Hoya, still one of the biggest names in boxing, two and half years since his last, and presumably final fight, appeared with young gun Victor Ortiz on Piers Morgan's talk show on CNN Wednesday night.

Oscar has been laying some of his dirty laundry specifics out to the public, two months after a rehab stint for substance abuse at the famed Betty Ford Center in California ended. But the interview passed without Morgan delving into the seamier sides of Oscar's life, surprisingly.

On Tuesday, Oscar had told a Univision interviewer that his chemical dependency had left him in the gutter mentally.  “Rock bottom was recently,” said De La Hoya, who stated he'd been sober for three months, with the help of AA. “Within 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.” He admitted he'd been unfaithful to wife Millie, and that they'd been separated, but are now together. “We're taking it one day at a time,” he said. No, he said he wasn't a sex addict, along the lines of Tiger Woods. He also came clean about those infamous photos, in which he posed in a fishnet body suit and boxing gloves, and in the bodysuit and a long-haired wig, and said that they weren't photoshopped, as he'd protested during the height of that 2007 scandal.

This battle with substance abuse, he said, “It's the biggest fight of my life.”

“There were drugs, my drug of choice was cocaine and alcohol, hmm. Cocaine was recent. The last two years, last two and a half years and I depended more in the alcohol than the cocaine,” De La Hoya said to Univision. “It took me to a place where I felt safe, it took me to a place where I felt as if nobody can say anything to me, it took me to a place where I just can reach out and grab my mom.”
Morgan, steering away from the TMZ territory, referred to Oscar as Ortiz' mentor, and started out his gentle interrogation by referring to the two men as two of the nicest, smiliest persons on the planet.
Morgan asked the two if they get tested at taverns. Ortiz said he steered clear of such encounters, and takes pains to simply walk away when challenged. Oscar said he was tested by a behemoth who swung at him, missed, fell on his face, kayoed.

Ortiz then laid out his difficult upbringing, and talked about the day his mom left. He was seven, his brother was five, and Victor was all ready to go to the boxing gym. Mom no showed, and finally years later, Victor accepted his mom left. His dad left four years after, and wasn't a great provider before that. Bills went unpaid, and his older sister had a baby as a teen, so she wasn't able to always take Victor under her wing.

He said he found his dad a year and half ago, in Kansas, where he grew up. His dad told him he was in prison for a spell. The fighter said he told his pop, “I did your job.”

Morgan then returned to the big bout. Ortiz said he wants the best Mayweather on hand on Sept. 17.  He told Morgan that he has no fear, not after what he went through growing up. Oscar then said that he sees the torch being passed to Ortiz. Oscar said he sparred Victor, and the punches hurt. Prime versus prime, Oscar said they maybe would fight to a draw. Ortiz drew laughs when he said he thought he'd get the nod in that fantasy matchup.

Morgan touched on Oscar's upbringing. ODLH said he didn't have much guidance from his parents on how to live. “Fame can be a trap, it can ruin your life, it almost ruined mine,” he said. “I can be an example for Victor…He can think on his own, he's a smart guy..I got his back 100 percent.”

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