ONTARIO, CA — Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya seems excited at the opportunity to bring Shakur Stevenson into his flourishing roster.
The New Jersey boxer Stevenson fought out his Top Rank contract Saturday against Artem Harutyunyan in a fight in which he coasted to a routine decision win.
Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler confirmed the fighter was leaving the company in a post on X, informing his followers that “free agent Shakur” was competing on ESPN that night.
In an interview with World Boxing News earlier this year, De La Hoya mentioned a bout between his boxer William Zepeda and Stevenson.
On the same night Stevenson defeated Harutyunyan on the east coast, Zepeda blasted past Giovanni Cabrera in a separate venue out west at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
Zepeda finished Cabrera with a combination of brutal shots that targeted both the head and the body.
As De La Hoya left the building, World Boxing News asked him backstage if he was interested in signing Stevenson, and now the boxer is free from his obligations at Top Rank.
Smiling from ear to ear, he looked directly at us and said he’d “love to” sign Stevenson. “Shakur,” he shouted, “give me a call!”
It is unclear which fights de la Hoya and Golden Boy would prioritize for Stevenson, for now, if they were to sign him.
Though the Zepeda bout is there to be made, it appears the company would rather crown the Mexican fighter with one of the sport’s lightweight championships before organizing a unification with a fighter like Stevenson — presumably so the fight becomes an even bigger spectacle.
However, there are other things Golden Boy can provide, whether it’s in-house bouts or collaborative working.
Golden Boy has cross-promoted on various shows in recent years.
Last year, they combined forces with Premier Boxing Champions to deliver the year’s best-selling combat sports event, which saw PBC fighter Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis finish Golden Boy lightweight Ryan Garcia with a body shot.
This year, Golden Boy middleweight Jaime Munguia fought Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on a PBC on Prime Video card in Las Vegas.
Alan Dawson is World Boxing News Lead Writer, a 2 x Sports Journalist of the Year finalist, and 5 x BWAA awards winner. Follow Alan @AlanDawsonSport.
