Tale of the Tape: Shakur Stevenson vs. Edwin De Los Santos

Here, we look at how Shakur Stevenson, one of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters, stacks up against 135-pound challenger Edwin De Los Santos as they fight for the vacant WBC lightweight title Thursday in Las Vegas. Odds courtesy of theScore Bet.

One of boxing's brightest stars is about to take the main stage in Las Vegas once again, as 26-year-old phenom Stevenson takes on the WBC's No. 6-ranked fighter in Dominican southpaw De Los Santos. The bout will be for the title vacated by Devin Haney who moved up to 140 pounds to challenge Regis Prograis.

The event is being used as a stage-setter for Formula 1's first-ever race weekend in Las Vegas, so expect a robust crowd of celebrities to be in attendance for what analysts expect to be another walk in the park for the undefeated Stevenson.

As the boxing world and his opponents have come to learn, Stevenson is one of the most elusive fighters in the sport. His opponents had landed an astonishingly low 13.8% of their shots against the New Jersey native before he went toe-to-toe with Shuichiro Yoshino in April. In that bout, Yoshino learned what it was like to miss Stevenson, landing just 36 total punches in six rounds, but he was also on the receiving end of brutal shots, as Stevenson won by TKO thanks to referee stoppage.

Stevenson has looked like a different fighter since being criticized following an underwhelming victory over Jeremiah Nakathila in June 2021. He's taken a more aggressive approach while still maintaining his slippery defensive game. Since beating Nakathila, Stevenson has scored impressive victories over Jamel Herring, Oscar Valdez, Robson Conceicao, and Yoshino, showing increased power in all of those bouts.

However, Stevenson might not want to go toe to toe with the power-punching De Los Santos who owns an 87.5% knockout percentage in 17 professional fights.

The Dominican may not be one of the bigger names in the lightweight division, but he's dangerous and won't back down from a firefight with Stevenson should the pair decide to trade. That might end up working to De Los Santos' advantage, providing him an opportunity to land one of his devastating right hooks or sharp left jabs.

Stevenson doesn't seem to care about his opponent's power. He recently said he's locked in and promised fireworks against De Los Santos, with whom he has a score to settle after the Dominican continuously called him out over the years.

"I hope the fans come out and full support. I just hope it’s a good outcome with the fans and everybody is paying attention to me because I plan on putting on a great show,” Stevenson told FightHype.com

"I don't know how the fight is going to go. I think I’m going to surprise a lot of people. That's what I've been doing my whole career. On fight night, I'll be doing what I've been consistently doing, and that's been dominating."

Will Stevenson defeat De Los Santos and capture his first title at 135 pounds, potentially beginning his ascent to the top of the division? Or will De Los Santos shock the world and make a name for himself by defeating the up-and-coming star?

We'll find out Thursday when it goes down in Las Vegas.