The sport of boxing has witnessed some of the greatest talents in history. However, former world champion Oscar De La Hoya seems particularly captivated by one boxer. During a podcast appearance lately, the ‘Golden Boy’ shared his thoughts on who he believes is the greatest boxer in the sport. It’s not the legendary Muhammad Ali or even the former undisputed heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson.

You don’t need to keep guessing—it’s none other than the undefeated WBC lightweight champion, Shakur Stevenson. While there’s a possibility that Oscar’s praise for the Newark native is motivated by his desire to sign Stevenson, who recently completed his contract with Top Rank, the points he raised about how Stevenson can continue to improve are still compelling.

Oscar De La Hoya claims Shakur Stevenson lacks confidence

During a conversation with former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe on the latter’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Oscar and Sharpe discussed how fighters today are more concerned about being undefeated and making more money than they are worth. This led Sharpe to highlight what people are looking for in a boxing match—knockouts, and a whole lot of action—without which they aren’t willing to pay for pay-per-view.

In response, Oscar said, “I’ll give you a perfect example of a young fighter right now in that position. Shakur Stevenson, the greatest fighter I’ve ever seen.” It’s worth mentioning that since Stevenson’s bout against Edwin De Los Santos last year, he has seen a sharp decline in his popularity. Not to mention, he was heavily criticized for avoiding engagement in the ring, which made for a boring encounter. 

Regardless, Oscar continued, “[Shakur has] beautiful style, great technique—has the punching power, has the chin, but he needs the confidence to fight.” The head of Golden Boy Promotions believes the problem with Shakur Stevenson is that he doesn’t have the belief in himself to put on a good show and sell seats. Things are further complicated for him because “He’s demanding all this money, and fights are not being made,” Oscar said. 

While Oscar believes ‘Sugar’ needs to put on a brawl to sell more tickets, Shakur Stevenson himself feels the problem lies elsewhere. 

Stevenson claims people hold him to different standards

Shakur Stevenson recently expressed his frustration over the double standards he believes exist in boxing, particularly for “young black guys.” After his WBC lightweight title defense against Artem Harutyunyan, Stevenson faced criticism for his tactical approach, despite winning decisively. Speaking with Andre Ward on All the Smoke Fight, Stevenson noted, “I would get it if this applied to everybody… But a lot of people don’t do to them what they do to somebody like me.”

Stevenson pointed out that fighters like Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk aren’t scrutinized in the same way when they deliver strategic performances. “I feel like our people need to learn how to stand with us, not play against us,” Stevenson added, emphasizing the need for unity within the community. He argued that the criticism he faces stems from unfair expectations placed on black fighters, who are often expected to deliver more aggressive and riskier performances.

It appears that despite some slow performances, Oscar De La Hoya believes Shakur Stevenson has the makings of a great fighter. However, he also highlighted some things Stevenson needs to do to achieve that status decisively. Meanwhile, Stevenson feels the public perception around is simply unfair. What’s your take on all this?