Oscar De La Hoya is getting real about some of his major parental shortcomings.
The former professional boxer spoke out this week on a podcast regarding how his now-24-year-old daughter Atiana De La Hoya was raised. And he’s being honest about how she wasn’t raised by him — but instead by Travis Barker.
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As Perezcious readers will recall, De La Hoya and his ex Shanna Moakler had Atiana back in 1999. The duo ended up splitting up just a year later, in 2000, after four years together. Then, in 2004, the former Playboy model tied the knot with the Blink-182 drummer. Soon thereafter, Shanna and Travis had children — Landon, who is now 19, and Alabama, who is now 17 — and lived the family life for a while before they split up.
Well, Atiana was obviously part of that family unit with Landon and Alabama growing up. The rock-and-roll drummer stepped up in a big way to raise her along with his own biological kids. And as the ex-boxer stepped back from his parenting duties, Travis stepped up and did the dad thing through Atiana’s life.
Now, Oscar is speaking up about the longstanding rift he had with his daughter. And he has some very interesting things to say as he comes clean about his rough parental past. The now-50-year-old former Olympic star sat down on Thursday for an episode of the Allison Interviews podcast.
During that chat, he acknowledged not being there for Atiana — and why he wasn’t around in the first place:
“I basically ran away. I was scared. I was fearful.”
He went on to explain:
“I did try to be a father full-time for a few years, and it was beautiful. It was amazing to raise a little girl, but there came a point where you ask yourself, ‘wait a minute, you’re not worthy of this.’ You try to convince yourself that you’re not worthy of this, that love is not possible in your life because of what I lived — of not receiving that love when I was a kid.”
Damn…
Later in the interview, the former sports star went on to reveal that he had a difficult relationship with his own parents growing up. Oscar explained how his mom and dad never hugged him, very rarely told him they loved him, and he would allegedly “get hit” by them every time he would cry as a young child.
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He theorized how that affected him as a father:
“I know I am this nice guy and I know I can be a father but then there comes a point where it’s like you try to convince yourself … this is not you this is scary. You’re not worthy of giving love.”
While Atiana was being raised by Shanna and Travis before those two split in 2008, Oscar was nearly completely focused on his boxing career. Of course, he has since retired after a successful time in the ring. But the sporting events kept him away from his daughter when, in retrospect, he now wishes he’d been more involved.
Oscar explained:
“I was always there, but not there, you know? It wasn’t your typical relationship with the father and the mother there 24/7. It wasn’t like that, but obviously, she is my daughter and I love her.”
Oof…
The timing of this podcast interview is very interesting, too. Just a few weeks ago, Oscar openly praised Travis in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Speaking to that outlet about how the drummer stepped up big when it came to getting Atiana through childhood, the ex-pugilist said:
“Look, I didn’t raise my kids, you know? Their moms did. And I have to give credit where credit is due. I’m grateful that Barker was there, you know, as a father figure for my daughter. I have to be grateful that Shanna was a mother to Atiana, and just know my place, basically, you know? My place — I’m obviously a father, and I’m proud of it. But, again, I’m grateful for what they’ve done. Especially with Barker. He’s obviously stepped up to the plate.”
So there’s clearly a lot of respect there. It hasn’t always been easy, though.
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What do U make of Oscar’s comments on this week’s podcast, Perezcious readers?
Sound OFF with your take down in the comments (below)…
[Image via Atiana De La Hoya/Instagram/MEGA/WENN]
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