Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya takes some time to answer a few questions about the recent major event of the season in Riyad, headlined by Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov, the upcoming Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga fight, and his desire to making a Shakur Stevenson vs. William Zepeda fight. Below you can read some fragments of his speech.
De La Hoya at Crawford vs. Madrimov
“Too bad for Jared, who got knocked out fighting the beast. This kid reminded me of George Foreman – a gigantic kid with weighty hands. I feel like Jared will be back. It was a great fight, there is no shame in his game, he is a great fighter.
“Pitbull, low end. It happens. He fought strenuous, but overall, I think Crawford closed out the show with a great victory. It was a tough fight that may require a rematch. We’ll see, but you know. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s fight against Vergil Ortiz because maybe the winners will fight each other, Crawford and Vergil.
“It could happen. We hope that Vergil will win this Saturday, he will be able to face Tim Tszyu at the end of this year, and then the winner of the Tim Tszyu vs Vergil Ortiz fight will face Terence Crawford.
Canelo vs. Berlanga fight
“I think one thing that’s not true that I feel is that they’re building this fight as Mexico vs. Puerto Rico. I don’t know. I don’t know if this is true because the last time I checked Berlanga was in Novel York. Last time I checked, I think I’m more Puerto Rican than Berlanga. I lived there for six years, so I know. I know what people love, I know who they will support… I think yes, it will be a good fight, but don’t make it a Mexico vs. Puerto Rico match.”
On if he believes Eddie Hearn is standing in the way of Shakur Stevenson fighting William Zepeda
“Oh well. I don’t think anyone will stand in the way of this fight. Look, I’m Zepeda’s promoter and I really want to do this fight. I think Shakur, skill-wise, is probably the best fighter in the world right now. Great, great skills, but he has to be able to sell tickets. His boxing style isn’t very genial to sell tickets, but I think the William Zepeda vs. Shakur Stevenson fight is a gigantic fight that will happen, but no, Eddie Hearn is not on track to fight that fight.