By Sal Arteaga: On November 16th, Shakur Stevenson will attempt to capture the vacant WBC lightweight world title against hard-hitting Edwin De Los Santos.
The match is set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shakur faces what most think likely be his toughest challenge to date in that he is challenging a power puncher with an 82 percent knockout rate.
Edwin is a pressure fighter who will seek to attack Shakur from the opening bell. Shakur must utilize his aggression against him, trapping him into misses and then countering him effectively.
Edwin is a young, hungry fighter with nothing to lose who wants nothing more than to capture his first world title. He will place intensive pressure on Shakur and seek to finish him early.
Stevenson is a masterful boxer; he has great vision and can methodically control his opponents’ range and distance with precision. His opponents have difficulty finding him; he has one of the lowest opponent connection rates in boxing at 13.4 percent (Compubox).
Edwin is a power puncher who starts strong in the early rounds but tends to fade as the fight progresses. William Foster III was able to capitalize on Edwin’s stamina issues, surviving the early onslaught and boxing him to an 8 round split decision victory.
If Shakur can sustain the early attack, he’ll have studied and deciphered Edwin’s rhythm and timing. Stevenson will then proceed to effectively and efficiently land his punches.
Jose Valenzuela was able to land a left hook that dropped De Los Santos in the second round; although he lost, he demonstrated Edwin’s defensive weaknesses. De Los Santos is highly offensive, so much so that he forgets to defend when he is on the attack; he can be reckless, has little head movement, and is susceptible to counters.
Shakur is agile and elusive; being so against Edwin will prove the difference in successfully defeating him. Edwin is young and not as experienced as Shakur; this will be the first 12-round match of his career.
Shakur can and will exploit De Los Santos’s careless defense, test his endurance, and then frustrate him with lateral movement. This is Shakur’s fight to lose; he must be careful not to be overconfident and allow an opening for Edwin to exploit.
If Shakur can strategically outbox Edwin, he will achieve greatness, becoming a third-division world champion and surmounting himself to arguably one of the best at 135 pounds.
