LAS VEGAS – Edwin De Los Santos’ promoter compared Shakur Stevenson’s subpar performance last week to stealing money.
Sampson Lewkowicz also faulted his own fighter for failing to force Stevenson into engaging, but he sees Stevenson as primarily responsible for the complete lack of action in their 12-round, 135-pound championship bout November 16 at T-Mobile Arena. Stevenson apologized to three fighters he idolizes who were ringside – Terence Crawford, Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward – as well as the fans for how he performed against De Los Santos.
The unbeaten WBC lightweight champion’s remorse isn’t enough, according to Lewkowicz, to reverse the damage done by the extremely cautious approach he took to boxing a powerful southpaw he defeated on all three scorecards in a main event ESPN televised.
“Neither one deserves to be a champion, but I never saw a fight so horrible in over 30 years in the business,” Lewkowicz, who also promotes David Benavidez, told BoxingScene.com after an open workout Wednesday at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. “I believe [Stevenson] doesn’t deserve to be a champion and he’s not humble enough to represent the people as a champion. I believe he needs to be humbled to wash himself of this because he hurt the business and he hurt the sport. I would never do a rematch because I wouldn’t want to be embarrassed one more time.
“But I believe Edwin De Los Santos will get another opportunity to show he’s a good fighter. The reason [Stevenson] ran so much is because he felt the power. Edwin said, ‘Every time I put my foot [forward] to go with a real punch, a powerful punch, he ran like a thief.’ And honestly, he stole money [from] the people. By the second, third, fourth rounds, he knew his own people were booing him.”
Stevenson won on the scorecards of judges Tim Cheatham (116-112), David Sutherland (115-113) and Steve Weisfeld (116-112) and became a champion in a third division. CompuBox credited the 2016 Olympic silver medalist for landing only 65-of-209 punches overall, however, 25 more than De Los Santos (40-of-316).
The 26-year-old Stevenson expressed disappointment with how he fought during his post-fight interview with a group of reporters. He previously told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna in the ring that he “wasn’t feeling too good” on fight night.
The Newark, New Jersey native’s primary promoter, Bob Arum, later informed BoxingScene.com that Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) hurt his shoulder and suffered other injuries during training camp that left him concerned Stevenson would need to withdraw from the fight. Stevenson wouldn’t acknowledge any injuries or make excuses for the way he fought.
Lewkowicz nevertheless thinks Stevenson did irreparable damage to his reputation, despite the fact that he still considers the skillful southpaw “a very good fighter.” Lewkowicz also stressed Stevenson made the job of Arum’s company, Top Rank Inc., harder because this fight wasn’t the least bit entertaining.
“I don’t know what Bob Arum will do,” Lewkowicz said of Top Rank’s founder. “But I believe whatever he [got] paid, he doesn’t deserve it. And Bob is not stupid. He will renegotiate whatever because PBC, I don’t believe will take [Stevenson]. And if it’s not PBC and it’s not Eddie Hearn or Golden Boy, where does he go? There’s nothing else. Nobody will wanna invest any money in him.”
Lewkowicz also feels that Stevenson’s showing against De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) has made the fight that Stevenson wants most of all, a showdown with Gervonta Davis, a near-impossible sell on pay-per-view.
“That fight will not happen because ‘Tank’ will come to fight and this guy, from the first punch, he will run,” Lewkowicz said. “The only thing he wants is the ‘W’ for himself. He doesn’t care for the public. He doesn’t care for the people. If he doesn’t change, he will never be an idol for anyone.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.