Oscar De La Hoya Reveals Why He Let Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler Raise Daughter Atiana

The former professional boxer shares daughter Atiana, who was raised by Travis Barker, with ex Shanna Moakler

PHOTO: SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY, JOHN SHEARER/GETTY

Oscar De La Hoya is opening up about why he let Travis Barker raise his daughter Atiana.

While appearing on Allison Kugel’s Allison Interviews podcast on Thursday, the former professional boxer, 50, revealed the real reason why he let ex Shanna Moakler, 48, and Barker, 47, raise his now 24-year-old daughter.

“I basically ran away,” De La Hoya admitted. “I was scared. I was fearful.”

“I did try to be a father full-time for a few years, and it was beautiful,” he continued. “It was amazing to raise a little girl, but there came a point where you say to yourself, ‘Wait a minute. You’re not worthy of this.’”
“You try to convince yourself that you are not worthy of this; that love is not possible in your life, because of what I lived through, not receiving that love when I was a kid. My father never told me, ‘I love you.’”

“My mother never told me she loved me. She never really gave me a hug. When I would cry, she would start hitting me. That is how bad it was,” he added.

Later in the episode, he revealed that he felt lost after life started spiraling. “All you want to do is drink and do drugs and escape. Luckily for me, when I was boxing, all the way to the end, it kept me in line.”

As the episode continued, De La Hoya said that as a father, “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.”

“You have to check in and you worry. Even though I was apart, I felt like I was always close, but I didn’t feel like I was worthy enough to do the job.”

Earlier this month, De La Hoya admitted in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he was “grateful” for Barker acting as a “father figure” to Atiana. “Look, I didn’t raise my kids, you know? Their moms did. And I have to give credit where credit is due,” he said.

“I’m grateful that Barker was there, you know, as a father figure for my daughter,” he continued. “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.”

He added, “But, again, I’m grateful for what they’ve done, especially with Barker. He’s obviously stepped up to the plate.”

De La Hoya welcomed Atiana with Moakler in 1999, a year before the couple split. Moakler then went on to marry Barker in 2004, who raised Atiana from when she was 5. The pair is also parents to son Landon, 19, and daughter Alabama, 17.

The rocker, who married Kourtney Kardashian last year, is also step-dad to her kids with ex Scott Disick — sons Mason, 13, and Reign, 8, and daughter Penelope, 11, and has another little one on the way with the Lemme founder.