Promoter Bob Arum says his company contacted Golden Boy Promotions to try to put together a fight between Top Rank fighter Shakur Stevenson and lightweight contender William Zepeda, but they expressed no interest.
Arum wanted to make the Shakur-Zepeda fight after hearing Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya say he wanted to make the fight between them following Zepeda’s victory over Maxi Hughes. However, when Arum’s Top Rank company attempted to make that fight, they were met with a roadblock, with Golden Boy supposedly saying, “He’s not ready.”
Why is Shakur Fighting Harutyunyan?
Arum would be more believable if Top Rank weren’t matching Shakur against the recently beaten Artem Harutyunyan. Out of all the fighters in the lightweight division to pick for Shakur to fight, selecting this guy makes it pretty clear that Top Rank isn’t interested in matching him against someone who can potentially beat him.
Even a rematch with Edwin De Los Santos would be much more preferable than having Shakur fight a fighter coming off a loss like Harutyunyan, who was beaten in his previous fight last year by Frank Martin. De Los Santos has been vocal about wanting a rematch, especially since many boxing fans had him winning last November against Shakur.
Arum Unleashes on De La Hoya
“When [William] Zepeda won his fight [against Maxi Hughes], it was Oscar De La Hoya who said, ‘Bring on Shakur.’ We called them and said, ‘Everybody heard Oscar. Shakur’s ready to fight your guy.’ It was, ‘Ah, he’s not ready yet,’ and all that s***,” said promoter Bob Arum to the media last Friday night about Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya not being serious about letting his fighter, lightweight contender William Zepeda, fight WBC champion Shakur Stevenson.
“Let me tell you something – if you take a lightweight and have them fight Shakur, it’s like sentencing them to death. Because nobody can beat Shakur,” Arum continued.
“Don’t say stupid things that you’re not going to back up. Now, if he wanted that kid [William Zepeda] to fight Shakur, it’s okay to say that, and then we would have probably made the match. But don’t say it if you have no intention of putting this kid in with Shakur.”
