STEVE MARCUS/REUTERS
Oscar De La Hoya (third from r.) , seen here promoting an earlier fight, checks himself into rehab.
Oscar De La Hoya, who predicted a knockout for his fighter, Saul (Cenalo) Alvarez in his super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday, won't be ringside to see if his forecast has come true.
In a stunning turn of events, De La Hoya, the former boxing champion who now works as a promoter, has voluntarily checked himself into an unnamed treatment facility - just days before one of the most lucrative bouts of all time - presumably to deal with issues related to drugs and alcohol, which he called "my disease" in a statement on Tuesday, though he didn't indicate what he was specifically seeking treatment for.
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The news of De La Hoya's situation comes just five days before Mayweather and Alvarez are to wage the year's most anticipated bout and on the same day the fighters on the show will make their formal "arrival" in front of the public at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where the card will take place.
Before Tuesday's announcement, the fighters would have been expected to discuss their fights. Now, they will surely be answering questions about De La Hoya's latest misstep, an unfortunate circumstance for a huge event the sport had celebrated and of course a gloomy situation for one of the most successful fighters in the history of the sport.
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Known as the "Golden Boy," De La Hoya is no stranger to addiction. The 10-time champion visited a rehab facility in 2011, later acknowledging he was an alcoholic who dabbled in cocaine use and fought feelings of depression. On Tuesday, his company, Golden Boy Promotions, released a statement, saying he had returned to seek action to fight those same demons.
"I will not be at the fight to cheer Canelo to victory since I have voluntarily admitted myself into a treatment facility," he said in a statement. "I explained this to Canelo and he understood that my health and longterm recovery from my disease must come first."
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This is not the first major fight that De La Hoya will miss because of apparent drug and alcohol problems. According to ESPN.com, he also skipped Bernard Hopkins' historic win against Jean Pascal in 2011, in which Hopkins became the oldest fighter in the history of the sport to capture a world title. While Hopkins was in the ring that night, De La Hoya, now 40, was in rehab, a reality he admitted to on Tuesday.
"Canelo Alvarez and I have big fights coming up this weekend," he said in the statement. "His is the ring and mine in treatment."
Mabramson@nydailynews.com
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