Shakur Stevenson Becomes Lightweight Champ In Low-Action Fight

In a fight with very little action, Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) became the WBC lightweight champion with a unanimous decision win over Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs).

With the win, Stevenson is now a three-division world champion having previously won titles at featherweight and super featherweight. Scores were 116-112 (x2) and 115-113. The fight headlined a Top Rank card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. ESPN was the platform that carried the clash in the USA.

In the opening round, the two southpaws remained an arm’s length away from each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. This continued into the second. Stevenson had success with the jab in the early rounds but could not put together combinations against De Los Santos, who kept his distance. Neither fighter appeared willing to take a risk during this portion of the fight.

Both men showed a lack of offence for the entirety of this clash. De Los Santos was unable to string a combination together and Stevenson was content with mainly using his jab. Even when De Los Santos showed some urgency in the championship rounds, he struggled to land clean on Stevenson. In sum, this was a fight where not much of substance was landed. Stevenson’s defense and jab won him the title. De Los Santos’ lack of activity cost him the belt.

Shakur Stevenson vs. Edwin De Los Santos post-fight quotes

Shakur Stevenson

“I really don’t care about [being three-division world champion]. I had a bad performance tonight,” said Stevenson post-fight. “That’s all I’m really focused on. I wasn’t feeling too good, so, I live with it. It’s OK. I came in, got the victory, that’s all I wanted to do.”

“Listen here, I don’t got nothing to say about that,” he said when asked about his lack of using the left arm. “I don’t make no excuses. It happens. We go through it a lot as a fighter. I’m good.”

“I just didn’t feel good. I didn’t feel good before the fight. Honestly, I already told myself, if I’m feeling like this in the ring and if it’s not going well, I’m [going] to make sure I outbox him and get the victory.”

Edwin De Los Santos

De Los Santos expressed his desire for a rematch in his post-fight interview with Bernardo Osuna. When asked about what he would do differently in a second fight with Stevenson, he said (with Osuna translating):

“Look, he [Shakur Stevenson] would never give me a rematch in the ring because it would have to be a track meet where he would give me a rematch. That’s why he’s earned the nickname that I’ve given him: Shakira Twitterson, because he is not a fighter.”

“I know that greater opportunities are coming for me. I’ve got the best promoter in the world and I just have to wait to see what’s next for me.”

Emanuel Navarrete draws against determined Robson Conceição

Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs) retained his WBO super featherweight title against a determined Robson Conceição (17-2-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC). The two fought to a majority draw. Scores were 114-112 for Navarrete, overruled by two scores of 113-113.

The fight began with Navarrete circling around Conceição and throwing out the jab intermittently. Though not much landed in the opening round, a right hand from Conceição that hit the eye had Navarrete briefly unbalanced. Both men threw and landed swinging hooks in the second. In these early rounds, Navarrete threw a number of swinging shots. However, Conceição’s timing allowed him to evade these shots and land clean on Navarrete.

Conceição eventually got caught with a short uppercut, followed by swinging hooks, in round four. This resulted in a knockdown in the final minute of the fourth. Navarrete continued to land clean shots in the remainder of the round. Despite this, Conceição recovered and continued to exchange with Navarrete in round five.

VAQUERO PUTS HIM DOWN 💥 pic.twitter.com/4HqWiQVeL0

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 17, 2023

Halfway through round seven, a right handed body shot from Navarrete sent Conceição to the canvas once again. Conceição recovered once again and continued attempting to outbox Navarrete. Towards the end of round ten, body shots from Navarrete appeared to visibly impact Conceição, but did not drop him.

BAAAAAAANG!

The champ gets Conceicao again 🏆 pic.twitter.com/6JCoUIZfZs

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 17, 2023

Conceição appeared to tire by the championship rounds, but continued swinging in an attempt to overcome the knockdowns. In the end, his efforts were enough to get him a draw.

Undercard results

Just before the ESPN telecast for Shakur Stevenson-Edwin De Los Santos, Brian Norman Jr. (25-0, 19 KOs, 1 NC) won a unanimous decision against Quinton Randall (13-1-1, 3 KOs). Scores for the ten-round welterweight clash were 99-91 (x2) and 97-93.

Floyd Diaz (10-0, 3 KOs) won a split decision against Max Ornelas (15-2-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-round bantamweight bout. A score of 76-74 for Ornelas was overridden by scores of 78-72 and 77-73 for Diaz. Ornelas went down in rounds two and three.

Troy Isley (11-0, 4 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Vladimir Hernández (14-6, 6 KOs) in an eight-round middleweight fight. All judges had it 77-75.

In a lightweight bout, Emiliano Vargas (8-0, 7 KOs) won via second round stoppage against Brandon Mendoza (6-3, 6 KOs). Mendoza went down round one and again in the second. Harvey Dock halted the action at the 0:57 mark.

Jackson Murray (6-0, 4 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Steven Torres (6-1-1, 6 KOs). Scores were 60-53 (x3) for this six-round heavyweight clash. Torres went to the canvas in round three.

In a six-round lightweight contest, Abdullah Mason (11-0, 9 KOs) stopped Jose Cardenas (7-2, 5 KOs, 1 NC) in round two. Cardenas went to the canvas once in the first and was knocked out cold at the 1:55 mark of round two, ending the fight.

Hugo Micallef (9-0, 2 KOs) won via stoppage against Sergio Odabai (6-2-1, 3 KOs). This six-round super lightweight fight came to an end after round four when Raul Caiz Jr. waved the fight off.

Opening the ESPN+ portion was a six-round super middleweight clash between Giovanni Sarchioto (9-0, 8 KOs) and Lucas de Abreu (14-5, 11 KOs). Brazil’s de Abreu went to the canvas twice before the fight ended, giving Sarchioto the KO win.