Shakur Stevenson has finally found an opponent to compete for the vacant WBC lightweight title. He will be facing Dominican lightweight contender Edwin De Los Santos, confirming rumors that the two have been in talks for the past couple of weeks since Frank Martin withdrew from his fight against Stevenson. Adding to the anticipation of this momentous fight, there will be a co-main event featuring a title match between Emanuel Navarrete and Robson Conceicao. The fight card will take place at the prestigious T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday, November 16th.
American multi-division champion Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KO’s) will be featured in just his second at fight at 135 after he beat Shuichiro Yoshino (16-1, 12 KO’s) earlier this year by stoppage. Following a notable career in lower divisions where he won multiple world titles, he now gains the opportunity to set a new precedent at lightweight if he wins the vacant WBC lightweight title.
Stevenson’s opponent will be Edwin De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KO’s), a contender from the Dominican Republic who has notably expressed his desire to face Stevenson in the past, and now not only gains the chance to do so, but can win a world title on top of that. It will be De Los Santos’ first world title fight.
Both lightweights will face opponents with styles and abilities they have yet to encounter. De Los Santos, though often styled as a power puncher due to to his KO ratio of 87.5%, is actually a hard-hitting counterpuncher known more for his versatility in punches, than the rate he throws them with.
Shakur Stevenson will be the toughest test of De Los Santos’ career, but the same can be said for Stevenson himself, whose abilities and achievements still make him the favorite. Though much more experienced than De Los Santos given the number of times he has fought at the world stage, Stevenson has notably never faced thoroughly skilled or powerful opponents, and De Los Santos appears to be a mixture of both.
Both fighters will undoubtedly have to be at their best to end up with their arm raised as the winner, and the vacant WBC lightweight belt strapped around their waist.
Co-featuring on this card will be Mexican WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-1, 31 KO’s) and Robson Conceicao (17-2, 8 KO’s). Unfortunately, the fight appears to be a mismatch. This is not only because Navarrete has maintained an unbeaten winning streak since 2012, but also due to Brazilian super featherweight Conceicao’s mixed record in his past four fights; including two losses, one win, and one bout ruled a no-contest.
Navarrete will be defending his WBO super featherweight title for the second time of his career, and will additionally head into the ring as a WBO super champion; a distinction which gives him a number of advantages including the right to immediately or quickly challenge for the WBO title even if he ends up losing to Conceicao.
Though the rest of the card have yet to be filled, the two headlining fights offer an entertaining spectacle for boxing fans who will be able to see a new champion emerge in the lightweight division.
The event will be promoted by Top Rank, the promoter of both Stevenson and Navarrete, and will be held at the renowned T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada . The fight card is scheduled for Thursday, November 16th, to avoid conflicts with the F1 Grand Prix taking place in Las Vegas the same weekend. The fight will further be broadcasted on ESPN and their streaming platform ESPN+.
