Undefeated American boxer Shakur Stevenson won over Edwin De Los Santos of the Dominican Republic to claim the vacant WBC Lightweight Title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday, November 16.
Although critics were hardly impressed by Stevenson's latest win, it remains that Stevenson is now officially a three-division world champion. Before claiming the WBC lightweight title, the 26-year-old previously held belts as a featherweight and junior lightweight per Bad Left Hook.
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After 12 rounds, the American held the edge over De Los Santos, 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112. Stevenson admitted he was not happy with his performance.
Shakur discusses his performance. pic.twitter.com/jpDTjLcwXZ
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 17, 2023
“I had a bad performance tonight, that’s all I’m really focused on. I wasn’t feeling too good. I’ll live with it, it’s OK, I came here, got the victory, and that’s all I wanted to do,” Shakur said.
With De Los Santos now out of the way, it will be interesting who “Sugar” will face next. While he did not mention anyone in the post-fight, several names could make sense for Stevenson.
3. Frank Martin
Frank Martin could be a sensible next opponent for Stevenson if he is looking to face top-ranked boxers in the WBC. The 28-year-old fighter is also undefeated in 18 fights, yet another aspect that could make a potential bout interesting between the two American boxers.
He last fought in July, winning over Artem Harutyunyan via unanimous decision at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada per CBS Sports. As of this writing, there is no official announcement on who Martin’s next opponent will be.
2. Gervonta Davis
If Lomachenko is still not interested in facing Stevenson, Gervonta Davis could be another potential name in the mix. He considers the 29-year-old the biggest star in boxing right now and he is confident that the 29-year-old PPV superstar would be open to facing him next.
“Tank” is coming off a TKO win in the seventh round over Ryan Garcia back in April, ESPN reported. Like Stevenson, he too holds a perfect record, further making a Davis vs. Stevenson fight interesting.
1. Vasily Lomachenko
Stevenson is confident that if he agrees, Vasily Lomachenko would be a huge fight to make. The Ukrainian was someone eyed to face Stevenson over De Los Santos but Lomachenko passed up the opportunity.
“The Matrix” is still smarting from his controversial loss to Devin Haney in May, The Guardian reported. Rather than fight again, Lomachenko decided to take a breather as he tries to gather himself after that disappointing loss.
Stevenson branded Lomachenko’s decision to pass up a fight against him as weak. But with the WBC title in hand, could convince the 35-year-old to reconsider facing the American fighter.
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