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Oscar De La Hoya arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence

Oscar De La Hoya is seen in 2014.
(Isaac Brekken / AP)
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Oscar De La Hoya was arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of drunk driving after he was stopped for speeding in Pasadena, officials said.

The 43-year-old former world boxing champion and Golden Boy Promotions chairman, who has battled post-retirement addiction issues, was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of greater than 0.08 after failing a series of field sobriety tests, according to the California Highway Patrol.

“As for his [blood alcohol content], he was over the legal limit of 0.08%,” said Officer Xavier Bejar, a CHP spokesman in Altadena.

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Golden Boy Promotions declined to comment to The Times.

De La Hoya was pulled over about 1:57 a.m. after he was spotted speeding in a Land Rover on Del Mar Boulevard, just west of Arroyo Boulevard, the CHP said. The Land Rover, according to authorities, also had mechanical violations, although the CHP report did not describe those.

While the officer spoke to De La Hoya, he “detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from inside the vehicle,” according to the CHP.

That’s when the officer asked De La Hoya to exit the Land Rover.

As the officer talked to De La Hoya outside, he continued to smell alcohol, officials said.

“The driver was shown and demonstrated a series of field sobriety tests,” the CHP report said. “The driver agreed to the tests and failed to perform them as shown and demonstrated.”

De La Hoya was scheduled to attend a news conference Wednesday in Indio for his World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion Francisco Vargas, who will fight Saturday at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino, but a spokesman said Wednesday that De La Hoya no longer was expected.

De La Hoya has entered rehab at least twice since retiring following his loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2008, and while he declared himself clean and reinvigorated in an interview with The Times in 2015, he has appeared intoxicated in a few recent video interviews on TMZ.

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In one, De La Hoya slurred his words as he spoke about a mythical fight between his star fighter, Canelo Alvarez, and UFC star Conor McGregor.

De La Hoya earlier this week visited with MGM Resorts officials in Las Vegas as a lucrative bidding war between T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and Jerry Jones AT&T Stadium in Texas is expected to commence for the May 6 Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. bout.

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