By Jack Tiernan: Oscar De La Hoya says Oscar Valdez will need to use pressure on Shakur Stevenson to have a chance of beating the highly skilled defensive artist on April 30th in their super featherweight unification fight on ESPN at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
De La Hoya believes WBO 130-lb champion Shakur is beatable, like any fighter, but it will take constant pressure from the WBC champion Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs).
He feels that “conditioning” will play a part in the outcome of the contest. With Valdez putting constant heat on Stevenson and hitting him with shots that his lesser foes could not hit him with, something will give.
If Valdez wears down and gets frustrated at his inability to land shots, it could be Shakur. He lost to pressure fighter Robeisy Ramirez in the 2016 Olympics.
Although Stevenson believed he was robbed, the fight was very close, and Robeisy showed that Shakur is vulnerable to pressure. Stevenson is an excellent fighter, but his ability to take punches is no greater than anyone.
If Valdez can land some of the same left hook shots on the 24-year-old Stevenson that he landed against Miguel Berchelt last year, he could knock him out.
De La Hoya says Valdez must pressure Shakur
“Another great fight. I forgot about that one. Look, Shakur is a special fighter. I think he has a lot of great attributes, the skill is amazing, and his reflexes are phenomenal,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV when asked about his thoughts on the Shakur Stevenson vs. Oscar Valdez fight.
“Every fighter can get beat if you figure him out, and if there’s a fighter that can figure somebody out, that’s Oscar Valdez,” said De La Hoya. “It’s a good fight. I think conditioning is going to play a big part.
“I think the pressure that Valdez can put on him or vice versa because Shakur Stevenson is a fighter that comes forward. He’s bigger. So, it’s a great fight. We have so many pick ’em fights over the horizon; I’m really looking forward to them.
“I think his will,” said De La Hoya on what Valdez has going for him against Shakur. “He has to put that pressure on him and be very smart, very careful on how he’s doing it.
“You can put a lot of pressure on a fighter without throwing a punch and get your opponent tired. If he can do that and throw the right combinations and make Shakur Stevenson go back, it can be a very interesting fight.
“Yeah, it is. The heart is always dangerous if you have skills like Oscar Valdez. Skills, power, heart, it’s a pretty dangerous combination. So both guys have their hands full and have great trainers in their corners. Yeah, it’s a great fight,” said De La Hoya.
We’ll see how well Stevenson can do to avoid the pressure from Valdez on April 30th. What Shakur can’t afford to do is use his pull-back style all night long without getting booed out of the MGM Grand.
In Shakur’s fight against Jeremiah Nakathila last June, he was unwilling to stay in the pocket. Even when Nakathilia was using feints, Shakur was pulling back, and it was boring for the fans.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum used to rail about Guillermo Rigondeaux’s less than crowd-pleasing fighting style, but Shakur was worse.
At least with Rigondeaux, he had excellent power in his shots, particularly his right hand.
Stevenson doesn’t have power, so it makes him hard to watch when he’s pulling back all night long using his safety-first fighting style.
Valdez hasn’t fought a mover
“I haven’t seen him fight a mover because when I was with him, who did he fight? Berchelt, and obviously Berchelt is not a mover,” said Ryan Garcia about Oscar Valdez.
“I seen him fight ‘Blunose’ Lopez, and he’s kind of a mover but not really. He’s definitely not a stayer,” said Ryan when asked if he views Shakur as a mover.
“Maybe, that’s a possibility because Valdez has tricky shots. That’s the kind of punches that Eddy’s camp trains on, tricky shots. Shots that are set up shots,” said Ryan on whether Valdez can hurt Stevenson.
“So, he always has to be on his Ps and Qs, which Shakur is good at,” said Ryan.
