If there is one man that knows a thing or two about identifying a great fighter, it’s Oscar De La Hoya.
The ex-professional fighter turned promoter enjoyed an established career which saw him capture world title across six weight divisions. Some of his more acclaimed victories came against the likes of Pernell Whitaker, Julio Cesar Chavez and Ike Quarter, although the 52-year-old did suffer defeat on a handful occasions before his retirement.
De Le Hoya’s 2007 battle against Floyd Mayweather Jr, which was billed as ‘The World Awaits’, was recognised as one of the most anticipated fights of that era with it generating well over $100 million in revenue. Despite the best efforts of ‘The Golden Boy’, he fell short to Mayweather after 12 competitive rounds, surrendering his WBC light middleweight champion to ‘Money’ in what would go on to be the one of the final outings of his career.
In an interview with Golden Boy Boxing on YouTube, De La Hoya didn’t hesitate to name Shakur Stevenson, who was set to go against his fighter Floyd ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield this weekend, as the ‘most gifted fighter on the planet’.
“Shakur Stevenson is probably the most gifted fighter on the planet today.”
At just 27 years old Stevenson is already a three-weight world champion who has won all 22 of his fights to date.
Schofield was due to challenge the WBC lightweight champion on February 22 in Riyadh, although it has recently been confirmed that the 22-year-old from New Jersey has now pulled out of the contest due to falling ill in the lead-up.
