Edwin De Los Santos says he views the former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson as a good fighter, but he sees him as a runner, and he won’t be able to get away with that approach in their fight this Thursday night for the vacant WBC lightweight title.
(Photo credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images)
De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) states that the ring won’t be big enough for Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) to run all night, and sooner or later, he’ll have to stop. That’s when he’ll get him.
Stevenson vs. De Los Santos will be shown on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ this Thursday night at the T-Mobile Arena. The event starts at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
The co-feature bout between WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and Robson Conceicao should be an interesting one. It’s possible that if Shakur & Navarrete win their fights, they could meet at some point in 2024.
Shakur is going to have to show some aggressiveness if he’s to win this fight, as it’s not going to work for him if he’s getting outpunched all night by De Los Santos.
“I don’t feel pressure. I’ve dedicated myself completely, so I know what I have to do. I’ve done it in camp, which I’m going to do in the fight,” said Edwin De Los Santos to the media today during the public workout for his fight this Thursday night against Shakur Stevenson at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Defense doesn’t win fights. That’s why we’re going to have hard punches to counterattack that defense. Yeah, I noticed that. When he fights against hard punchers, he takes care of himself a little too much. So, he’s going to have problems with me,” said De Los Santos when asked if he noticed how uncomfortable Shakur looked in his fight against the powerful Jeremiah Nakathilia in 2021.
“For me, I would say Gervonta Davis because of the quality of the boxing he has and his punching power. But I would also be satisfied with Tank Davis and Devin Haney as well.
“Haney has better boxing skills than Shakur and Gervonta Davis; forget about it. He has power; he has everything.
De Los Santos expects Shakur to run
“I can’t say it right now. You’re going to see it on November 16th,” said De Los Santos when asked what advantages he has over Stevenson. “I wouldn’t say he’s [Shakur] overrated because he has had achievements with the people he fought, but he’s going to get some fire this Thursday.
“His style is to run,” said De Los Santos about Shakur. “The ring is big, but it’s not big enough to run all night. So at some point, he’s going to have to stand there, and that’s when we’re going to come in.
Hopefully, Shakur doesn’t fight defensively on Thursday night like he did against Jeremiah Nakathilia in their contest in 2021. Shakur used an ugly pull-back style all night and was heavily booed by the fans in one of the most boring fights in memory involving a heavily hyped fighter.
Shakur was reportedly knocked out by sparring partner Liam Paro in training camp, and we don’t know how much that affected him. He was clearly getting beaten up by his other sparring partner Kevin Johnson, in a leaked video on YouTube.
“It may look like he’s doing small steps, and it also looks like he’s running, and if he does small steps with me, he’s going to have some problems,” said De Los Santos about Shakur.
Expect fireworks on Thursday night
“When it comes to technique, I haven’t been able to show as much. You saw a bit against Joseph Adorno, but this Thursday, you’re really going to see,” said De Los Santos.
It could be that Stevenson isn’t cut out to be fighting at 135, and the only reason he looked impressive against the Japanese fringe contender Shuichiro Yoshino last April is because this guy didn’t look like he belonged ranked in the top 15.
“Any person has to have in mind that when you attack to the body, you’re going to wear down your opponent. So that’s where you’re going to have to take advantage and land punches, but maybe not look for a knockout because the knockout always comes, but start working for it.
“I’m super happy fighting, and I want everyone to expect fireworks. I want the whole world to watch what’s going to happen,” said De Los Santos.
