In part two of The Golden Boy, streaming on HBO Max, Oscar De La Hoya's kids spoke honestly about how their father was largely absent from their lives. The former professional boxer has also called himself an "absentee father," saying that the mothers of his children were the ones who took care of them.
"Look, I didn't raise my kids, you know?" Oscar told Entertainment Tonight earlier this month.
Oscar has six kids.
US Weekly reports that although Oscar started dating Shanna Moakler in 1997, he had his first child, Jacob, with Toni Alvarado in 1998. He had Devon, 24, with Angelique McQueen, and Atiana, also 24, with Shanna. Angelique spoke about learning of Oscar's child with Shanna in a 2009 Fight Hype interview.
"The thing is, I didn’t really see the big deal, the problem, until I was actually sitting on the bed and I’m breastfeeding my son and I’m looking at the TV and there’s Oscar with this other woman coming out of the hospital with a baby girl,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Who’s that?’ And I found out that was Shanna."
Shortly after having his eldest children, he moved to Puerto Rico and had three more kids with Millie Corretjer.
He said he left their moms to take care of them.
Oscar admitted that he knew parenting was a "huge responsibility" but also said he "didn't know how to do it."
Atiana is much closer with her stepfather, Travis Barker, who is no longer married to Atiana's mom. Oscar said Travis was a "father figure" for his daughter.
"I have to be grateful that Shanna was a mother to Atiana … And just know my place, basically, you know?" he said. ""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."
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Atiana said she would see her dad about once a year.
Atiana said her perception of her father largely came from things she heard about him since she didn't see him frequently. She said her understanding of him came from "who [she] was told he was" because people who followed his career probably knew him better than she did.
"I remember — I think it might have been fourth grade or something — and we were supposed to get dinner and then go to Color Me Mine because I loved art. And I remember trying to think of, like, what I would say. Like, ‘Am I going to call him dad?’ And I remember going to Color Me Mine and he painted, like, a cheeseburger and I had the cheeseburger in my room for … it’s probably still somewhere, to be honest," Atiana said.
Devon pursued boxing to feel more connected to his dad.
Devon said that his dad was basically "the guy on TV." While living with his mom, Devon pursued boxing to feel more of a "connection" to his dad.
“It was almost like I knew him. But he knew nothing about me,” Devon said.
Why didn't Oscar take the time to get to know his son Devon? The boxer said, "Devon was living in Vegas for a while, time just goes by and it just turned messy."
Devon's peers did not sympathize with him.
Devon spoke about how his peers just didn't get it. Because Devon had a famous dad, they thought Devon had "everything," but because Devon didn't have a relationship with his dad, he felt like he had "nothing."
“He raised me through a screen, almost. It’s just hard, [like] ‘You’re hanging out with your other children, why not me?’ Kids would say I’m just some rotten, spoiled kid whose father’s Oscar De La Hoya. [They’d say], ‘You have everything you want in this world.’ I had nothing," he explained.
Devon reached out to his dad on Instagram.
Devon's mom had reportedly tried to contact Oscar, but got no response. So after 16 years, Devon reached out to his dad on Instagram.
"I met him when I was 16 [at a restaurant],” Devon said. “He came to the back door. And I saw and I just started bawling. The emotions going through my body were just sad, happy — the whole nine. But also angry. I just wanted to hug him, but also, you know, I just wanted to [expletive] punch him in the face. But I just held him as tight as could and I didn’t want to let go.”
Oscar's then-wife, Millie, didn't know about Devon for some time.
Oscar admitted that Millie only learned that Devon existed through the media, and not from Oscar himself.
“I think she found out about Devon in a gossip magazine. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation, to say the least,” he said.
Oscar said the way he dealt with Devon was his 'biggest regret.'
When Oscar met up with his son Devon at the restaurant, he immediately realized how much pain he had caused his son. He said that he could see it in Devon's eyes and that it "killed" him.
Jacob said he saw his dad every couple years as a kid.
Though Jacob said his dad provided financial support, Oscar was "not a parent figure" to him.
“When I was 7 or 8, I think we went to Chuck E. Cheese or something and then he’d disappear for a couple years,” Jacob said.
He added that Millie wanted everyone to have a relationship with their dad, and introduced Jacob to his half-siblings. However, Jacob "felt some sort of pain or anger, sadness."
Atiana, Devon, and Jacob bonded over their complicated relationships with their dad.
The three siblings did not grow up together, but were surprised to find out how much they have in common. Despite growing up differently, Atiana said, "we’re the same three people."
“Looking at it now, we’ve all kind of been struggling with the same things, which is something that we can relate on," Jacob explained, also noting that he is now close with both Atiana and Devon.
Devon said the three of them often say "how much [they] love each other."
“We, more than our dad, look out for each other," Devon said.
