NEW DELHI: Undefeated American fighter Shakur Stevenson secured the vacant WBC world lightweight crown with a unanimous-decision victory over Edwin De Los Santos of the Dominican Republic. Stevenson, now 21-0 with 10 knockouts, claimed his third world title in different weight classes after previous stints as featherweight and junior lightweight champion.
Despite the victory, both fighters faced criticism for a lacklustre showing, prompting disapproval from the crowd with boos echoing around the T-Mobile Arena. The official Compubox statistics revealed that De Los Santos landed just 40 punches throughout the 12 rounds, marking the fewest number of punches ever recorded in a 12-round fight since the system's introduction 38 years ago.
Stevenson acknowledged his subpar performance and expressed disappointment, stating, "I had a bad performance tonight, that's all I'm focused on. I wasn't feeling too good. I'll live it, it's OK, I came here to get the victory, and that's all I wanted to do."
When questioned about his left hand, which he landed only 21 times during the contest, Stevenson declined to make excuses and simply stated, "I ain't got nothing to say about that—I'm not going to make excuses. I just didn't feel good before the fight."
In response to Stevenson's victory, De Los Santos accused him of negative tactics, claiming, "I came to fight, he came for a track meet. I came to fight tonight, and Shakur Stevenson decided not to fight. He was gifted the title, but I am the champion of the people."
(With inputs from AFP)
