Game Time Nation (206)

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Former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya said he thought about suicide and has been going to rehab because he has become dependent on drugs and alcohol in an interview with Spanish-language network Univision…”Rock bottom was recently,” De La Hoya said, according to an English-language transcript provided by the network. ”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.”

De La Hoya says he has been sober for three months after undergoing treatment and joining Alcoholics Anonymous.

He said he was unfaithful to his wife and that they were separated for a while.

”We are obviously not talking a Tiger Woods here, but I was unfaithful,” De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya retired in 2009 after a 16-year career in which he won 10 world titles in six divisions and became boxing’s most popular fighter.

De La Hoya was thoroughly beaten by Manny Pacquiao in his last fight. He won his last title in May 2006, beating Ricardo Mayorga in six rounds for the WBC 154-pound belt. He finished with a record of 39-6 and 30 knockouts….Known as ”The Golden Boy,” De La Hoya transcended his sport, using his bilingual skills to generate crossover appeal among Latinos and whites.

He began boxing at age 5, following in the path of his grandfather and father. He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, delivering on a promise to his late mother, Cecilia, who died of breast cancer two years earlier.

”There were drugs, my drug of choice was cocaine and alcohol, hmm. Cocaine was recent. The last 2 years, last 2 1/2 years and I depended more in the alcohol than the cocaine,” De La Hoya said. ”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.”

Butch Lewis, the colorful boxing promoter who worked with Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Michael and Leon Spinks, has died. He was 65…Funeral home owner Sammy Congo of Congo Funeral Home in Wilmington, Del., says he received notification of Lewis’ death on Saturday morning and was expected to meet family members on Sunday.

He did not have information about how Lewis died.

Lewis was best known in the ring for sporting tuxedos with no shirt and being involved in some of the sport’s biggest fights. He promoted the Michael Spinks-Mike Tyson fight in 1988 that ended with a first round knock of Spinks, who earned more than $13 million for the fight.

He began his career in boxing in the 1970s, but later branched into music and entertainment.

Before the Zab Judah-Amir Khan fight in Las Vegas on Saturday, Lewis was honored by ring announcer Michael Buffer and given a 10-bell count.

LAS VEGAS (AP)

Amir Khan got another big win, even if he would have liked to do it in a bit more spectacular fashion.

Khan stopped Zab Judah in the fifth round of their scheduled 12-round unification fight Saturday night, winning another piece of the 140-pound title and cementing his claim to being one of the top fighters in the division. He did it with a body shot that landed legally, though Judah claimed it was a low blow…No matter, said Khan, who was landing big blows even before the punch that put Judah down.

“If it had gone another few rounds, I would have knocked him out with a clean shot,” Khan said.

Khan was dominating the fight when he threw a right hand that landed just at the belt line of Judah, who went to the canvas. Judah stayed there on his knees as referee Vic Drakulich counted him out at 2:47 of the fifth round.

Judah acted as though he was surprised to be counted out, but got up and went to his corner as Khan celebrated with his cornermen. Judah had earlier complained about being butted by Khan and was bleeding from his nose and cuts to his face.

“It was a low blow. I was trying to get myself together,” Judah said. “That was self-defense right there.”

The win was an impressive one for Khan, the former Olympic silver medalist who likes to call himself the best pound-for-pound boxer in England. He came in as a 5-1 favorite, and had no trouble against the southpaw Judah, using his quickness to beat him to the punch in almost every exchange…Khan won the first four rounds on all three ringside scorecards.

“I think my speed overwhelmed him, along with my power,” Khan said. “I thought I was hurting him and it was only a matter of time.”…The end came when Khan landed a right hand that appeared to be legal, but just barely. Judah went down and stayed there with his back to Drakulich as the referee counted him out….Khan, who improved to 26-1 with 18 knockouts.

Not only has Shane Mosley been on the losing end of his latest boxing matches, he is also losing the fight in the courtroom as well. Per TMZ Sports, Mosley’s ex-wife Jin Mosley will be awarded 3 championship belts as part of their divorce settlement. Ouch. Here are some details:

The settlement provides that ex-wife Jin “shall maintain custody and control of three championship belts for each of the respective parties’ three minor children.” Each of the kids get a belt when they turn 18.

And Jin will get half of Sugar Shane’s cut of profits from videotapes and DVDs of his big fights, including bouts with Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and Fernando Vargas.

Since the divorce was filed in California and community property rules apply, Jin gets half of Sugar Shane’s fight purses during their marriage.

Shane Mosley won’t have to split the $3mil he pocketed for his sparring match fight with Manny Pacquiao as the fight took place after the 2009 split, so there’s a small silver lining to an overall disappointing judgement. Not to mention the 21-year-old bombshell Bella Gonzalez that Shane has bagged, so I think Shane is sleeping well. Or not at all, depending on how you look at it.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP)

If Wladimir Klitschko thought he was going to get a glimpse of David Haye’s boxing style on Wednesday, he must have been disappointed….After warming up at a public training session, the Briton threw just one punch before leaving the ring, stunning a crowd that included his Ukrainian rival in a much anticipated heavyweight fight Saturday.

Haye showed no interest as Klitschko started his workout, chatting with TV reporters before leaving the training center in Hamburg with his entourage.

After his full-hour session, Klitschko told The Associated Press he was getting fed up with his opponent’s ”childish” antics.

”I can’t even take it seriously. It’s not even funny anymore,” said the 35-year-old IBF and WBO champion. ”You can trash talk a certain time, but as I said, reality is coming … and it’s serious business. It won’t be funny for David Haye.”

The two fighters have traded some fairly strong insults, even by heavyweight boxing standards, in the lead-up to the fight. Haye, the WBA champion, has worn a T-shirt showing the severed heads of Klitschko and his older brother Vitali.

In one of his latest taunts, Haye said he was more worried about getting knocked out by Germany’s E. coli outbreak than by Klitschko, who has a 55-3 record with 49 KOs.

Haye, a 30-year-old former unified cruiserweight champion, said he believes his presence has made the heavyweight division more interesting, especially among American boxing fans.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP)

WBA champion David Haye promises a ”brutal execution” of Wladimir Klitschko in their heavyweight fight Saturday.

Calling the IBF and WBO champion a ”robot” stuck in his ”rigid ways,” Haye said he was in the best shape of his life and vowed to send the younger Klitschko brother to hospital in their bout in Hamburg’s soccer stadium….”You are going to see the most brutal execution of a boxer,” Haye said Monday. ”I will absolutely destroy him.”

Speaking at the same news conference, Klitschko said he respects Haye as a fighter but not as a person.

”You have a certain attitude that is not so good for your life inside and outside the ring,” the Ukrainian IBF and WBO champion said.

Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) promised to make Haye eat the T-shirt the Briton once wore depicting the image of himself holding the severed heads of the Klitschko brothers. Vitali, the elder brother, is the WBC champion.

Haye kept the news conference waiting for about 45 minutes before appearing in sun glasses and a T-shirt promising to a KO in Saturday’s fight, which had been 2 1/2 years in making.

”Be on time, princess,” Klitschko admonished Haye.

Klitschko questioned why Haye would not shake his hand. Haye said he would do it when he visits Klitschko in hospital after the fight.

The Ukrainian also wondered why Haye did not like to share a room with him. ”Look in the mirror,” Haye said…..Klitschko acknowledged that Haye looked fit and confident.

”I am going to get challenged in the ring,” said Klitschko, while adding that he planned to punish Haye for 12 rounds before knocking him out toward the end.

Haye depicted Klitschko as a one-dimensional fighter.

”Wladimir is in great shape, is mentally prepared and has viewed all the tapes on me. But come fight night you will see something completely different and it will be great to watch this robot malfunction,” said Haye, who is 25-1 with 23 knockouts.

”I am ready to do what I always promised I would do. I am healthy, the speed is ridiculous, the punch power is there. I am in a really good place. I am so happy the fight is happening now and not a couple of years ago as I am a much better fighter now,” Haye added. ”He is stuck in his rigid ways and has been since the amateurs.”