On Thursday, November 16, Shakur Stevenson and Edwin De Los Santos met at T-Mobile Arena with a common mission — win the WBC Lightweight Championship. However, there was one problem with that. Only one man would walk away with the green belt that so many desire.
Backed by former two-division world champion Andre Ward and lineal welterweight champion Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson made his way to the ring as the heavy betting favorite just after 9 p.m. PST. Sharing the ring with arguably his most dangerous opponent yet, Stevenson got off to a fast start in a strategic battle that put his boxing IQ and defensive skills on full display. As the fight wore on, the Newark native began to put his jab to work and opened up more as De Los Santos seemingly became more and more frustrated.
At the end of twelve rounds, fans expressed their displeasure with the lack of offensive action inside the ring, but judges were more than satisfied with the New Jersey boxer’s defensive prowess, discipline and ring generalship. All three judges turned in the following scorecards in favor of Stevenson: 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
