Fighting at 130 pounds became a bit too taxing for Shakur Stevenson. He may have grabbed two world titles, but once he was asked to defend his unified throne against Robson Conceicao, he realized that making weight was practically impossible.
So, after essentially pitching a shutout, Stevenson left his super featherweight titles on the scales and entered through the lightweight door. He was beltless but Stevenson looked around his new division and loved what he was seeing. To his right, he noticed Devin Haney clutching every world title at 135 pounds. To his left, Gervonta Davis sat atop a Brinks truck. Straight ahead were several contenders, Jamaine Ortiz being one of them.
Stevenson took a relatively soft touch in Shuichiro Yoshino, stopping him in the sixth round. From there, the former Olympic silver medalist did his best to line up fights against Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko, William Zepeda, and Isaac Cruz.
However, despite putting his best foot forward, Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) will have to settle for a showdown against Edwin De Los Santos. It wasn’t the fight that he wanted but after checking out game tape on his November 16th opponent, Stevenson believes that he’s incredibly respectable.
“He’s definitely the best available option,” Stevenson told MillCity Boxing during a recent interview. “With everybody saying no.”
De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) hit a major bump in the road in early 2022, as he lost a split decision to William Foster. Since then, the 23-year-old went back to the lab, got himself right, and reeled off three consecutive victories.
In the midst of his winning streak, Stevenson has noticed the improvements and all of the intricacies of his work. De Los Santos’ name may not ring a ton of bells but after evaluating him, Stevenson admits that he’s as dangerous as they come.
“He’s definitely a real good fighter,” continued Stevenson. “He got great movement, I consider him a boxer-puncher.”