Golden Boy President Eric Gomez had some illuminating comments about his employer and close friend Oscar De La Hoya.

Gomez, a longtime employee of the promotional company founded by De La Hoya, offered a frank assessment of the Hall of Fame fighter in the soul-baring, two-part HBO documentary about De La Hoya’s life, The Golden Boy, which premiered last week.

The documentary has been mostly well received, with many applauding De La Hoya for addressing a range of difficult issues, including his upbringing, the travails with substance abuse,  and the neglect of his children. De La Hoya has routinely popped up in the headlines for matters stemming from his personal life.

Gomez, a childhood friend of De La Hoya who was elevated to the highest position at Golden Boy in 2016, admitted in the documentary that it has been “frustrating” trying to steer the company alongside De La Hoya and his tabloid-courting behavior.

“You’re going to be 50 years old Oscar, is this where you want to be?” Gomez said. “Is this where you imagined yourself to be at 50? Still having lawsuits, still having problems. Now that I’m running the company for him, it makes it very, very difficult because you’re the one that fields the phone calls. It’s very frustrating. It makes you want to run.

“Then, you know—look, he’s a family member. You have to have compassion. If he falls down 10 times you lift him up 10 times. And you keep helping him. Eventually you’re gonna get it right. But deep down I know it’s probably never going to be smooth sailing. You’re always trying to get to that smooth sailing. And it’s probably never going to happen.”

De La Hoya drew criticism after he was a no show in the post-fight press conference to the high-profile lightweight bout between De La Hoya's star charge, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta Davis. De La Hoya then had a public row with Garcia on social media.

Gomez thinks the documentary will have a "liberating" effect on De La Hoya.

“I think the reason why he is doing this film is that he’s trying to transform, he’s trying to cleanse himself." Gomez said. "He’s got so many things stored inside—secrets. Things that he wants to get out. It’s liberating. There’s nothing more powerful—nothing more powerful—than telling the truth.”

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.