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Oscar De La Hoya is a menace! The head of Golden Boy Promotions has taken it upon himself to troll Shakur Stevenson ahead of the latter’s title defence against Artem Harutyunyan on 6th July at Prudential Center, Newark. It will be ‘Sugar’ Stevenson’s first fight of 2024, after his disappointing performance against Edwin De Los Santos last year. Why was it disappointing?

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Well, the major consensus was Stevenson cowered and ran away from engagement, just doing enough to secure a unanimous decision win over Santos. Something De La Hoya brought up in his tweet today to mock Stevenson while roping in his lightweight fighter William Zepeda, who is also fighting on the same day in a separate headlining event.

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The Oscar De La Hoya Guarantee

With mere days left in the fights, the former world champion turned boxing promoter wrote, “Hey @shakur I guarantee @williamzepeda2 throws more punches in his first round on Saturday than you do your entire fight”. The San Mateo Atenco, México native will square off against Giovanni Cabrera at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

The 28-year-old hasn’t featured in the most big money fights yet, but he took down former titleholders Rene Alvarado and Joseph Diaz, both by decision as he is slowly rising in the lightweight ranks. Whereas Stevenson’s career seems to have taken a major blow after the Santos fight. Despite this, Stevenson has promised a better showing in his upcoming showdown against Harutyunyan. However, his interaction with a couple of fans on X today suggests his image as the boring fighter hasn’t improved yet!

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Shakur Stevenson against the world!

While Shakur Stevenson is nowhere near securing his dream fight against Gervonta Davis, this didn’t stop people from speculation on X. In one such instance, a user questioned his followers about the potential matchup, with another responding to the tweet, claiming any bout featuring Stevenson isn’t the best to be made. The user also added that Stevenson talks too much and runs away when faced by a heavy hitter.

To this, Stevenson responded stating, “U just haven’t watched enough of me stupid”. However, this wasn’t the end of the criticism for the Newark native! Another user responded, claiming Stevenson is a boring fighter while underscoring his last fight against De Los Santos. This seems to have pushed Stevenson over the edge, as he issued an open bet. He wrote back, “Tell yo fav fighter to fight me and bet yo house on it.. U gone lose it all lol”.

If Oscar De La Hoya’s prediction comes true, Shakur Stevenson can say goodbye to any big fights in the future. But Stevenson landing less than Zepeda’s first round in the whole fight might be a little too far-fetched. Even still, Stevenson needs an extraordinary performance to repair his reputation. What do you think about Oscar’s guarantee?

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Written by

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Sudeep Sinha

4,781 Articles

Sudeep Sinha is a Golf Writer at EssentiallySports, covering the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the storylines around the sport's biggest events and names. He previously spent over two years writing in the Boxing department, where his fight-night coverage was featured on Sports Illustrated, Daily Mail, and Yahoo Sports, including his reporting on Ryan Garcia's career arc. On the golf beat, Sudeep covers tour news, player form, and the season-long storylines that shape the men's and women's game, from majors to the ongoing shifts in how professional golf is structured. That same appetite for detail that made his boxing coverage stand out now shows up in how he breaks down a swing change or a schedule shakeup for hardcore and casual fans alike. Outside work, he splits his time between reading, cycling, and following combat sports.

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Snigdhaa Jaiswal

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