In 2022, the ladder that Edwin De Los Santos had to climb reached far into the Heavens. Against William Foster III, the Dominican suffered the first, and so far only, loss of his career. He might’ve been despondent but De Los Santos dusted himself off and got right back to work.
The extra time he put in has paid off. Luis Acosta, who at the time was an undefeated prospect, was clipped in the second round by De Los Santos. Back-to-back wins over Jose Valenzuela and Joseph Adorno made it three victories in a row.
With everything clicking, De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) has officially earned his shot at a world title when he takes on Shakur Stevenson for the vacant WBC crown this coming Thursday.
On paper, Stevenson is the first elite opponent De Los Santos has come across. To a large extent, the former Olympic silver medalist is viewed as a generational talent and a pound-for-pound star. He’s also considered by some as the best lightweight around. De Los Santos, however, isn’t willing to throw more superlatives in Stevenson’s direction.
The 26-year-old is good. But the best lightweight in the world? De Los Santos finds that laughable. In fact, outside of himself, he believes two other lightweights are clearly better than Stevenson.
“For me, I would say Gervonta Davis because the quality of boxing he has and his punching power,” De Los Santos told a group of reporters. “I would also say Devin Haney as well.”
De Los Santos has been a master trash talker during the lead-up to their showdown but he insists that he isn’t trying to get underneath the skin of Stevenson. From his point of view, Stevenson simply isn’t on the same level as the rest of his elite contemporaries, especially Davis.
“Haney has better boxing skills than Shakur and with Gervonta Davis, forget about it. He has power, he has everything. He’s complete.”