De La Hoya Criticizes Shakur Stevenson’s Lack of Self-Confidence and Entertainment Value

In an interview, Promoter Oscar De La Hoya criticized Shakur Stevenson, saying he doesn’t have the faith to play entertainment to sell tickets.

Safety-First Fighting Style

De La Hoya believes that Shakur’s style of fighting for safety first is caused by a lack of self-confidence, which he can change if he has confidence in himself. Oscar wants Shakur to be fan-friendly, but that’s impossible without breaking him as a hero.

It’s probably too late for Shakur to change the way he fights because he seems to be afraid of taking shots, and he thinks he can be successful at the top 135 using his aggressive strike-and-run style of fighting.

It worked for Shakur at 130 and 126, but he never fought the biggest talents in those weight classes. The best guys Shakur fought in those divisions were thrift store fighters, Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring, who had seen better days.

Since moving up to 135, Shakur has fought three times and looked below average in two fights against Edwin De Los Santos and Artem Harutyunyan. Now he’s looking for Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis to fight in what some see as crying out for a payday.

Stevenson may next defend his WBC lightweight title against William Zepeda, a star promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, at one of the Honorable Turki Alalshikh’s events.

Shakur’s Vigilant Style is grounded

Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) has been fighting very carefully since his college days, which is why he lost in the 2016 Olympics. The judges did not appreciate his beating; style in the Olympic final against Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez.

It’s understandable why De La Hoya might be concerned about Shakur’s inability to sell because it could affect a PPV event involving Zepeda if that fight goes ahead.

“He needs confidence to fight. He has to believe in himself to put on a good show and sell seats. That’s the problem he has. He doesn’t sell seats,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya on YouTube channel Club Shay Shay talking about Shakur Stevenson’s inability to sell tickets and not attract anyone.

“He is a great hero. He wants all this money, and wars are not fought.”

If De La Hoya is counting on Shakur to change his fighting style early to fight William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), he should forget it because it’s not happening. Shakur’s fighting style is set in stone, and he doesn’t like to be beaten.

Shakur may have been injured in sparring bouts and is no longer confident in risking his chin when sparring with stronger fighters. We’ve seen Shakur work in an offensive video against Liam Paro, so it makes sense for him to fight fear because he has limited offensive skills.