It wasn’t the opponent he wanted but that doesn’t Shakur Stevenson is listlessly going through training camp.
On November 16th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 26-year-old will officially take on Edwin De Los Santos. To sweeten the pot, the WBC has placed their freshly vacated title on the line.
Devin Haney was the first name on Stevenson’s Hitlist, along with Gervonta Davis. But, with Haney opting to move up in weight and with Davis ostensibly having his attention pulled elsewhere, Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) didn’t sweat it. Sure fights against Haney and Davis were of the utmost importance but the lightweight division had enough big names to placate his desire to face someone worthy of his time.
But while Stevenson was under the impression that one of the division’s top contenders such as Isaac Cruz, Vasiliy Lomachenko, William Zepeda, and most recently, Frank Martin, would be willing to face him next, he was proved wrong.
For whatever reason, the cream of the lightweight crop hasn’t been too gung-ho about facing Stevenson. But just when his frustrations reached its boiling point, De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) stepped up to the plate.
On paper, fighting De Los Santos is a bit of a letdown from Stevenson’s point of view. Ultimately, he’s hoping that he’ll receive the credit he believes he’ll deserve as long as everything goes according to plan.
For the most part, Stevenson hasn’t paid too much attention to the 23-year-old. But, with their showdown official, the hard-to-hit pound-for-pound star has popped in a few of his opponent’s game tape and began breaking him down.
Stevenson doesn’t want to be dismissive or disingenuous of his man’s skills. After watching him closely, there are a few things that De Los Santos does that stand out. Stevenson soon began spewing superlatives as his excitement level began rising.
De Los Santos is good. Very good even. But come November 16th, Stevenson is anxious to prove that there are levels in boxing for a reason.
“It’s a fighter with big power, he’s a southpaw, got good boxing skills, good reflexes but he’s not gonna be able to beat me.”