You couldnt talk about mental health Oscar De La Hoya claims he and Mike Tyson used box

Former six-division boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya has reacted to the recent upsurge in fighters withdrawing from fights due to mental health issues.

This comes after Adrien Broner announced that he’s pulling out of his planned August 20 comeback fight with Omar Figueroa Jr to focus on his mental health.

The excuse didn’t sit well with his opponent, but Broner has received support from Ryan Garcia, who also took some time away from the sport due to mental health concerns last year.

‘Golden Boy’, who has publicly battled issues with addiction and depression since retiring from boxing, says he used the sport as a form of therapy during a time when mental health problems were rarely discussed.

“I was brought up differently,” De La Hoya told Inside Fighting.

“When I was fighting in the 1990s, 2000s, you couldn’t talk about mental health. You couldn’t talk about therapists or anything like that. All we had to do was fight.

“That was our therapy. Our therapy was training and fighting. Who knows if it worked or not but that was the way it was. It’s just different times, different days. I can’t really speak on it for the fighters today.”

De La Hoya then claimed that boxing legend Mike Tyson, who has had spells in ten different mental health facilities, also used fighting as therapy. 

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“When me and Mike Tyson was growing up our therapy was in the ring," he added.

“It was for me and Mike Tyson, yes, that was our therapy. That was just the way we dealt with things but we are living in different times.

"For us, fighters, believe it or not, training, being in the gym, staying active, fighting and winning championships – that’s the best therapy one can get – when you’re doing something you love.

“That’s the way me and Mike Tyson grew up.”

The 49-year-old sent a direct message to Broner, who was at one time considered by many to be the heir to Floyd Mayweather before a poor run of form resulted in him winning just one fight since 2017.

“I hope you get better. I hope you feel positive. You have to look at yourself within and fix that inside and then go out and conquer the world. All the best, brother.”

Times have certainly change since De La Hoya and Tyson fought, for the better. Now, we have plenty of high-profile fighters speaking out about mental health in an attempt to end the stigma.

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has been a massive mental health advocate since his battle with addiction and depression led him to the brink of suicide before he turned his life around.

In MMA, UFC star Paddy Pimblett recently gave a powerful post-fight speech on the subject after his fight at the O2 Arena in London.

‘The Baddy’ implored men struggling to seek help after learning his friend committed suicide the day before his latest fight, in a speech that went viral.

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