Oscar De La Hoya is looking to build stars in the sport of boxing, but Tim Bradley isn’t a fan of the way he plans to go about it.
Bradley, a two-weight world champion and former pound-for-pound star is now an outspoken analyst in retirement and wasn’t happy with recent comments from promoter De La Hoya – who joins Bradley in the Hall of Fame – concerning lightweight contender William Zepeda.
Zepeda is in the unique position of being ranked number one with all four governing bodies meaning, in theory, he has his pick of the champions. In reality, Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko are tied up in their own negotiations, but both Shakur Stevenson and Denys Berinchyk are free.
Despite WBC Champion Stevenson welcoming the bout, De La Hoya said after Zepeda’s stoppage win over Giovanni Cabrera that he prefers the Berinchyk route for the WBO title – a fight that fans would largely agree is an easier task than Shakur.
“I think I would go the WBO route. Berinchyk. I think that’s a great fight, a fan-friendly fight. It would take William Zepeda to the next level, and then we go after the unifications … I would love for Zepeda to be world champion when he faces Shakur Stevenson and all the other guys.”
Speaking on Pro Box TV, Bradley was not a fan of the thinking.
“This era soft as hell. After listening to Oscar say that… Talking about oh he’s gonna wait before fighting Shakur Stevenson and all this stuff?
Man, when I fought for the world championship, I’d never fought outside of California and I fight the number two champion, in the world. Ricky Hatton was number one and you had Junior Witter number two. Hatton didn’t want to fight Witter. I ended up fighting him, Junior Witter. A bad man. I didn’t wait.
What’s all this waiting for? You either ready or you’re not. He’s wanting to take the easier route and think he can beat Berinchyk. Berinchyk is a tough guy to beat … I don’t like it man.”
De La Hoya said he would like Zepeda out again later this year.
