Undefeated fighter Shakur Stevenson will make his highly-anticipated move up to lightweight in this fight for the vacant title against Edwin De Los Santos at the T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, November 16th 2023.
26-year-old Stevenson and 24-year-old De Los Santos will go head-to-head in an exciting bout for the vacant WBC belt, with both looking to assert themselves as one of the best in the world in this weight class.
We'll take a look ahead to the bout and provide you with our best free boxing betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on fight night.
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Shakur Stevenson vs Edwin De Los Santos information
- Thursday, November 16th 2023
- T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Ring-walk approx. 23:00 ET
- Vacant WBC Lightweight championship (135-pounds)
- 12 x 3 minute rounds
Shakur Stevenson vs Edwin De Los Santos odds
- Shakur Stevenson - (-1000)
- Edwin De Los Santos - (+700)
Stevenson comes into this bout as an undefeated professional fighter, with a stunning 20-0 record that includes 10 knockout wins.
"Sugar" has had a startling career at such a young age, having previously held the WBO, WBC and The Ring super-featherweight titles, which he won by defeating Oscar Valdez via unanimous decision back in April 2022. His first defense of those titles was marred in controversy though as he missed weight, being stripped of the belt on the scales.
He still dominated against Robson Conceicao in that fight to ensure the belts remained vacant, before moving up to lightweight for the first time in his last bout against Shuichiro Yoshino where he put on a masterclass to earn a sixth-round technical knockout in April of this year. During that fight he landed 50 percent of his total punches and 60 percent of his power punches, while Yoshino landed just 36 punches in total. This will be his first chance to win a title at 135-pounds.
De Los Santos heads into the ring for the biggest fight of his career, on a three-fight win streak with a professional record of 16-1 with 14 knockouts.
His first defeat came via a split decision over eight rounds against William Foster III, but since then he has been in fantastic form. He jumped back in the ring quickly to fight Luis Acosta and claimed a second-round knockout, having dropped him in the opening round too. He then came up against Jose Valenzuela in a crazy war that saw both fighters hit the canvas, before eventually earned a third-round stoppage.
Last time out he went the distance against Joseph Adorno to retain the WBC Continental Americas Lightweight championship and set up this fight with Stevenson for the WBC World title.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
Shakur Stevenson vs Edwin De Los Santos preview
Shakur Stevenson is one of the most talented technical boxers in the business right now, having previously won world titles in two weight divisions and earned a silver medal at the Olympic games.
Moving up to lightweight will be a test for him, but his experience in his win over Shuichiro Yoshino, should serve him well in his first lightweight title fight. The 26-year-old is fast on his feet, and has excellent offensive and countering skills while also having decent power since stepping up a division.
Stevenson has great fundamentals and he fights well at range and in close, and usually he just uses his jab and combination work to force his opponents into mistakes or claim the win on the scorecards.
Edwin De Los Santos is no slouch, and he should give Stevenson a more challenging lightweight fight than Yoshino did earlier this year.
With that being said, the 24-year-old landed this fight because competitors ranked higher than him, namely Frank Martin, Isaac Cruz, and Vasiliy Lomachenko, were not interested in matching up against a foe like Stevenson without him holding a belt, and so he's probably a bit too green for this opportunity.
De Los Santos is an aggressive boxer who does not take a long time to get involved in a fight. He will look to attack Stevenson from the opening bell and force him to fight off his back foot. If he lands one of his heavy lefts then he could cause Stevenson issues, but hitting him is a much harder task than it sounds.
Boxing picks: Stevenson to dominate
The Dominican De Los Santos has nasty power and he's quick with his one-two. 14 of his 16 wins have come via knockout and the value in backing him to win that way is certainly worth a go.
But Stevenson is lightning-quick with his footwork, which makes him great at eluding punches and is by far the better technician. The longer this fight goes, the better the American's chances. De Los Santos has more power than Stevenson, but if this bout goes to a decision, it's all but guaranteed we'll see Shakur's hand raised.
Because Stevenson is the overwhelming betting favorite, there is not a lot of betting value in picking him as the winner. Instead, the betting value comes from wagering on the outcome of this fight. I expect this will be a tough test for Stevenson, but I also believe he has the skills to emerge as the victor. The betting pick is Stevenson to win via decision at -250 to try and find some value in the bet.
Check out our review for MyBookie sports betting here.
