LAS VEGAS -- He was the Golden Boy, a fighter who brought in fans for decades after winning a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics. Oscar De La Hoya fought 45 times in 16 years as a pro, winning 39 of them along his way to titles in six different weight classes. He made millions, and his huge fan base made other fighters who beat him stars in their own right. But success came at a price, including two stints in rehab for alcohol abuse, which De La Hoya says plagued him since his youth in East Los Angeles. Some details about De La Hoya: DRINKING: De La Hoya says he was drinking throughout much of his career, including at the Olympics and in the weeks before his final fight, a loss to Manny Pacquiao in December 2008. RETIREMENT IS TOUGH: De La Hoya fought past his prime. Most boxers do fight too long, he said, mostly because they miss the attention. "I would always ask, Now what?" De La Hoya said. "Whats going to fill the void of the adrenaline, the excitement, and the cheers in the ring? It shows you can get lost when you stop doing something you love. Youre not prepared to handle it and you can make some wrong choices." At least he kept and invested much of the $300 million he earned. De La Hoya says that was a lesson he learned from retired boxers. PAY ATTENTION TO THE BAD STUFF: De La Hoya has some advice for any athlete, not just fighters. Take a look at the bad things that happen, learn from them, and try to avoid the mistakes others have made. "Take a look at my career and look at all the negatives and just dont do what I did," he said. "Its easier said than done but its true. Dont look at the good things we did because thats too easy. Take the bad and what happens in our lives and learn from it." MAYWEATHER ISNT UNBEATABLE: De La Hoya might have won his 2007 fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he would have kept using his jab late in the fight. Age and a bad rotator cuff prevented that, but De La Hoya says Mayweather can be had if fighters keep calm and follow a good game plan. "What happens now is they lose before they step into the ring," he said. "Mayweather outsmarts them." BOXING ISNT DEAD: The problems with boxing are simple and easily solved, De La Hoya says. Top boxers like Mayweather need to fight more often, and different promoters have to match their best fighters against boxers with other promoters to make more big fights. De La Hoya says he is all in now on his promotional company, Golden Boy Promotions, and believes the seemingly insatiable demand by sports programmers for live content will keep boxing popular for years to come. "We havent even scratched the surface," he said. "This is a business that maybe one day, 20 or 30 years from now, I will sell and it will be big." . The question is how many minutes will be available to them and can any of their defence or goaltending provide value? Top Picks: Following a down year in 2011-2012, Matt Duchene rebounded with his highest points-per-game (0. . The former central defender calmly nodded it down and quietly went about celebrating a win with his staff. For a man who has had a lot on his shoulders this season, it was an appropriate moment.
http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.info/ ... -Jersey/.J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. . Moments after his Brooklyn Nets teammates ran out onto the court to congratulate him following their 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Johnson could only shake his head at scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. . Setting United on its way to a 2-0 victory, Rooney sent the ball high from inside the halfway line over goalkeeper Adrian after just seven minutes. "Its just instinct, Ive turned and had a quick look and seen the goalkeeper off his line," Rooney said.Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Jordan Loveridge scored 14 points with six rebounds as No. 10 Utah thumped USC, 79-55, in the Pac-12 opener for both schools. Delon Wright had 11 points and 10 assists and Brandon Taylor gave 11 points and five boards for the Utes (11-2, 1-0 Pac-12), who have won four straight. Nikola Jovanovic and Malik Martin each scored 14 points with six rebounds for the Trojans (8-5, 0-1), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Final Score: California 81, (21) Washington 75 Berkeley, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Jordan Mathews career-high 31 points helped California overcome the worst shooting game of the season from Tyrone Wallace to top No. 21 Washington 81-75 in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Mathews only needed 14 shots to net his 31, finishing 5-for-8 from behind the arc and 10-for-12 from the foull line.dddddddddddd Wallace, Californias undisputed leader and one of the nations most complete players during non-conference play, had eight rebounds, four assists and four steals but only shot 4-for-20 from the floor. He finished with 19 points thanks in large part to free throws down the stretch. David Kravish added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Cal (11-3, 1-0 Pac-12), which had lost two straight games heading into conference play. Nigel Williams-Goss stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for Washington (11-2, 0-1), losers in two in a row following an 11-0 start to the season. Robert Upshaws bid for Pac-12 sixth man of the year continued with another impressive performance, albeit in the loss. The 7-foot transfer from Fresno State had 16 points, eight boards and five blocked shots. ' ' '
