Shakur Stevenson never wanted to leave the super featherweight division. The 26-year-old worked hard to become a unified champion and was proud that two of the four major world titles sat on his mantle.
Ultimately, the decision to remain at 130 pounds was taken out of his hands. Just one fight after aggregating the WBC and WBO titles, Stevenson was stripped of his championship status when he failed to make weight. Coming in a bit heavy made Stevenson realize that he needed to move up.
So, exactly one year after beating Oscar Valdez, Stevenson made his lightweight debut. His skills have always been lauded but how would the former Olympic silver medalist react to fighting bigger men? Six lopsided rounds later, those questions were answered.
Shuichiro Yoshino stood no chance as he was crushed underneath Stevenson’s boot heel. From there, the former two-division champ was hoping to use the carcass of Yoshino as a springboard to bigger fights. However, none of the lightweight division’s elite took the bait.
Stevenson complained loudly as Isaac Cruz, William Zepeda, Frank Martin, and Vasiliy Lomachenko turned down fights with him.
Finally, after watching big name after big name look in another direction, Stevenson has an opponent. Next Thursday night, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Stevenson will take on Edwin De Los Santos.
The 23-year-old Dominican, unlike most of his peers, was loudly banging the drum hoping to get Stevenson’s attention. While some may view him as an unbeatable fighter with otherworldly skills, De Los Santos believes that Stevenson has certain flaws that he will exploit come fight night.
Considering that it’s been practically impossible for him to get the sort of fights that he wants, Stevenson is being called the lightweight division’s boogeyman. That moniker, nevertheless, hasn’t been earned according to Santos. If you asked the highly-ranked contender, the only fighter that should be viewed in that regard is him.
“They call him the boogeyman,” De Los Santos told Top Rank. “The real boogeyman of the division is me.”