Set for a big showdown in Las Vegas, just days before the debut of Formula 1, Shakur Stevenson takes on Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC lightweight title. Stevenson is undefeated at 20-0 and is coming off an emphatic TKO victory over Shuichiro Yoshino earlier this year at the Prudential Center in Newark. Meanwhile, De Los Santos has a fantastic record himself with a mark of 16-1 that includes 14 knockout wins. The former fighter had been primarily boxing at the super featherweight level but has moved up to lightweight to challenge for more gold. Moreover, this fight was initially supposed to be Stevenson versus Frank Martin, but it was called off due to a contract disagreement. Thus De Los Santos stepped up as the next available fighter in the WBC’s lightweight rankings.
For this article, SBS will be going over what to look for from each fighter along with more notes and information about boxing wagering.
A former world champion in two different weight classes, Stevenson is a rising star in the sport and a fantastic fighter. A silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics representing the United States, the fighter was able to lock down a medal fighting in the bantamweight division. Moreover, he has been ranked in the past as the world’s best active fighter in the super featherweight division as well. In terms of his record, the southpaw has an even split of 10 knockout wins in his career to go along with 10 decision victories as well.
As mentioned above, Stevenson is coming off a solid victory over Yoshino (his lightweight debut) and turned in his first TKO performance since October of 2021. As noted in one report by ESPN, Stevenson, at only 26 years of age, is one of the fastest-rising stars in boxing. With title wins at 126 and 130 pounds, he is aiming for history as he is looking to do the same in a third weight class. Moreover, Stevenson is noted for being one of the finest defensive fighters in boxing.
Opposing the rising star will be De Los Santos who, while an underdog in this fight, does bring a lot of explosive traits to the table. At 23 years of age, the Dominican fighter has compiled a great record of 16-1 with a stellar 14 knockout wins. Moreover, he has been especially impressive in his last two bouts. Coming off a unanimous decision win over Joseph Adorno, he was able to retain the WBC Continental Americas Light championship in the process.
Prior to that bout, he was able to knock out the formerly undefeated Jose Valenzuela in Los Angeles for the WBC title. While he has lost once in his career, to William Foster III in early 2022 via split decision, he is still a formidable foe. Indeed this has been a remarkable turnaround for De Los Santos since that loss as he gets ready to square off against Stevenson for the championship.
Prediction: A solid matchup, take Stevenson to win here given his lengthy body of work and the fact that his star is still ascending at a solid clip.
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