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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
Shakur Stevenson and Edwin De Los Santos have agreed to a deal for a Nov. 16 fight in Las Vegas for the vacant WBC lightweight title, sources told ESPN.
The 135-pound title bout will headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card two days before Formula 1’s debut race on the Las Vegas Strip.
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) had been slated to fight undefeated contender Frank Martin after a deal was reached last week, but Martin decided not to proceed with the bout after the contract was sent over. De Los Santos was the next available contender in the WBC’s lightweight rankings.
A 23-year-old from the Dominican Republic, De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) has impressed in his past two fights. He rose off the canvas to score a third-round knockout of Jose Valenzuela in September 2022 and followed that with a unanimous-decision win over Joseph Adorno in July. De Los Santos’ lone defeat was an eight-round split decision against William Foster in January 2022.
Less than two years after that setback, De Los Santos will meet Stevenson, ESPN’s No. 9 pound-for-pound boxer, for the title formerly held by undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.
The WBC named Haney “champion in recess” after he decided to move up to 140 pounds for a shot at the organization’s junior welterweight title. That fight for Regis Prograis’ WBC title will take place Dec. 9 in San Francisco.
“Most ducked fighter in the sport of boxing,” Stevenson posted on Instagram after Martin withdrew. “Edwin get ready, I’m tired of [you] saying my name.”
Stevenson, 26, is one of the fastest-rising stars in boxing. The Newark, New Jersey, native has won titles at 126 and 130 pounds and will look to do the same in a third weight class.
A southpaw who is perhaps the sport’s best defensive fighter, Stevenson scored a sixth-round stoppage of Shuichiro Yoshino in April in his lightweight debut.