Shakur Stevenson has surmounted himself as arguably one of the best in the lightweight division by becoming a three-division champion in another masterful performance, defeating Edwin De Los Santos by outpointing him to a 12 round unanimous decision on Thursday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After suffering verbal jabbing from Edwin, the new WBC champion demonstrated why he’s feared by many and called “The Boogeyman.”
The scores: 116-112, 115-113 and 116-112.
Shakur utilized his agility and elusiveness to minimize and essentially diminish Edwin’s offense. Although Edwin placed immense pressure, it was ineffective due to Shakur’s defensive genius.
He strategically placed him at distance, made him miss frequently, and countered him effectively. Edwin was frustrated at his inability to connect and find the range.
For the first seven rounds Shakur was extremely defensive, measuring and calculating De Los Santos. Once he captured his rhythm and timing, he began an efficient attack of pot shotting him at distance.
His offensive output decreased significantly from his last few fights, but it was enough to capture the victory. Shakur’s gameplan was to outpoint Edwin and he succeeded.
The slow pace and lack of exchanges was to the dislike of many fans at the T-Mobile arena they expected and wanted more. Although Shakur was victorious his low output and defensive style was not crowd pleasing or fun to watch. A defensive chess match is not everyone’s cup of tea. Shakur earned the victory but lost many fans due to his lack of offense.
What’s next for Shakur after this performance? A possible match against Vasiliy Lomachenko or possibly another top lightweight contender. Shakur would be willing to face anyone in the light weight division as long as the deal is agreeable to both sides. At the end of the fight Shakur stated that he would take a small break by taking some time to rest.