Oscar De La Hoya isn’t so outraged at the thought of Jake Paul receiving a ranking by the World Boxing Council.

It all depends, according to the promoter, on what that ranking is.

The WBC roiled the boxing world recently when its head, Mauricio Sulaiman, stated that Paul, the famed YouTuber-turned-boxer, would find a home in their cruiserweight rankings should he defeat Tommy Fury this Sunday in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on ESPN+ Pay-Per-View.

The 26-year-old Paul has reinvented himself in the past couple of years, going from being an exclusively social media influencer to a boxing attraction whose fights engender fierce debate about the legitimacy of his pursuit. Paul has six fights (four via knockout) to his name, with the majority of his opponents being former MMA stars. His last fight was an eight-round decision over UFC legend Anderson Silva last October in Glendale, Arizona.

Many have interpreted Sulaiman’s admittedly vague remarks to mean that Paul would receive a ranking as high as 15, because most sanctioning bodies offer 15 slots per division. But that is not the case with the WBC, which offers 40 spots within each division, so it’s possible that Paul would not venture too deep into the rankings should he defeat Fury. A top-15 ranking is significant, because it means a fighter is eligible to fight for a world title, the objective for nearly every fighter and promoter in the sport. WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu is set to defend his title against Badou Jack on Sunday’s Paul-Fury card.

Upon the news, many notable figures in the industry lashed out at the Mexico City-based sanctioning body, denouncing them for being mercenaries. But De La Hoya, the head of Golden Boy, offered somewhat of a more nuanced take in a recent interview.

When asked if it would sit well with him if Paul received a ranking as high as 40, De La Hoya responded in the affirmative.

“Sure,” De La Hoya told FightHubTV. “Winning this fight, which I believe [Paul] will, he’s gonna knock out Fury. Winning this fight, I believe he should be ranked in the top, yeah, like top 30, you know? That’s a start. What’s wrong with that? There’s nothing wrong with that. He’s showing that he’s growing, that he’s getting better.”

However, De La Hoya made it clear he would have a problem with the WBC if it bestowed a top-15 rating on Paul, saying it would be “unfair” to other boxers who have presumably toiled longer and harder than the upstart.

“[Paul] only [has], what, five, six fights? Look, I always defended Jake Paul,” De La Hoya said “I like him as a fighter. He’s growing, he’s learning, but to tell you the truth, this is only my opinion, I don’t think it’s fair to other fighters who have been trying to climb the ranks, who are maybe 15-0, who are maybe 20-0 and are not even ranked. So, they have to see all that. I’m not saying that Jake Paul is not worthy of it. I’m just saying, look, the WBC has to do right. The WBC really has to analyze what exactly they’re trying to do here. I’m for the fighters, and I’m pretty sure Jake Paul will agree with me. Is he worthy of it? Does he deserve it? I’m sure he feels that he does.
 
“But realistically, if you’re 6-0 it’s like, wow, sh!t, you’re going to be ranked, what, [top 15]? I don’t know.”