Oscar De La Hoya knows boxing from inside and outside the ropes.
‘The Golden Boy’ won top prize at the 1992 Olympic Games before turning pro later that year and fighting his way to becoming the sport’s biggest box office star.
Along the way he won world titles in six weight classes, defeating the likes of Julio Cesar Chaves and Ike Quartey and only coming up short to Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Nowadays he is on the promotional side of the sport and has helped make stars like Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez and Ryan Garcia. One man he is currently building is William Zepeda, the undefeated Mexican who holds the number one contender spot in the lightweight division with all four sanctioning bodies.
The 28-year-old could be set to land the biggest fight of his campaign so far in WBC Champion Shakur Stevenson. Both De La Hoya and Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh have said it’s the target, and Stevenson isn’t shying away from it.
Speaking to Fight Hype, the fighter-turned-promoter said it would happen and praised Shakur as one of the best fighters on the planet.
“I don’t think anybody will get in the way of that fight. I’m Zepeda’s promoter and I actually want to make that fight. I think Shakur, right now, skill-wise, is probably the best fighter on the planet today. Tremendous skills. But he has to be able to sell tickets.
His boxing style is not that friendly to sell tickets, but I think that William Zepeda versus Shakur Stevenson is a huge fight. It will happen … I think the only one in the way of making that fight is me, and I’ll tell you one thing, I will make that fight.”
Stevenson has come in for some criticism, particularly his last two bouts, for being less than entertaining. He’s a master of the ‘hit and don’t get hit’ strategy, so routine points wins are much more common than stoppages.
Zepeda is a pressure fighter with an impressive gas tank and relentless nature. De La Hoya may just be right in that he’s the perfect opponent for Stevenson, who says he will fight to the level of his competition.
