Stevenson vs De Los Santos Odds, Pick

Stevenson vs. De Los Santos Odds

Boxing takes center stage on ESPN on Thursday night, so we're taking an early look at the Shakur Stevenson vs. Edwin De Los Santos odds, and making a pick and prediction.

Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport.

The 26-year-old burst onto the scene in 2017 fresh off an Olympic silver medal in the 2016 Games, and he propelled a career that has since seen him become an ESPN regular while winning world titles at feather and super featherweight.

On Thursday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) while vying for his fourth major world championship across three weight classes, the Newark, New Jersey native takes on Dominican Republic-born Edwin De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) for the vacant WBC lightweight title.

Stevenson vs. De Los Santos Analysis

The hard-hitting De Los Santos has one loss in his career. It was a debatable split-decision defeat in January 2022 to William Foster III, who was then 13-0, by two scores of 77-74 for Foster and one for De Los Santos.

Stevenson has seldom been seriously challenged.

His biggest win to date is his wide unanimous decision victory over then-undefeated super featherweight titlist Oscar Valdez in a bout to unify the WBO and WBC 130-pound titles.

Stevenson outboxed the highly touted Valdez in April 2022, winning all but 2-3 rounds, according to the judges, even scoring a knockdown in Round 6.

As talented as Stevenson is, there's reason to believe De Los Santos will provide the skillful southpaw one of his stiffest tests yet.

To me, this is at least the third-best guy Stevenson will have fought behind Valdez and Jamel Herring, whom Stevenson took the WBO super featherweight title off of, stopping him in the 10th round of their October 2021 encounter.

De Los Santos has the power advantage, and he has noteworthy victories over former blue-chip prospects in Jose Valenzuela (then 12-0), whom he knocked out in the third round of their bout two years ago, and Joseph Adorno, whom he won every round against in a July 2023 decision win.

But if he can't catch Stevenson – like most can't – he won't stand a chance.

Stevenson and De Los Santos are both 5-foot-8, and De Los Santos has a two-inch reach advantage – 70-68 – but Stevenson is a savant counter-puncher, defensive wizard and master of range.

To this point, it hasn't mattered who has the physical advantages between him and his opponent.

Stevenson is in his second fight of the year, which is worth noting.

In April, he made his 135-pound debut, knocking out undefeated Japanese contender Shuichiro Yoshino in Round 6. It was just his second fight at lightweight whereas De Los Santos has competed in the division for all but three of his 17 pro fights.

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Stevenson vs. De Los Santos Bets

As of this writing, Stevenson is a -1200 favorite, and I can't even sit up here and tell you, with a straight face, that he's overpriced.

I'd prefer him slotted at -800 or so, but does it really matter?

I'm not telling any of you to bet him on the moneyline anyway.

I am picking Stevenson to win, and unfortunately, I think because of De Los Santos' toughness, durability and strength – each outlined earlier – all signs point to a Stevenson decision.

Why is that bad? Because of the chalky -250 odds on FanDuel (the shortest I could find, as of this writing).

So, instead, here are my suggestions:

• Bet Stevenson to win by unanimous decision, which can be found at -200 at DraftKings.
• If you ultimately think Stevenson wins on points, use it as a reliable parlay leg this week. You've got NBA games, Thursday Night Football, college sports and Lord knows what else on tonight to use as additional parlay legs. This is how I'm playing it.
• Sprinkle on a late Stevenson stoppage. I don't think he walks through De Los Santos as he did Yoshino. I think this is a more tactical performance, and if we get a stoppage, I think it'll be late. However, the straight-up Stevenson KO/TKO is +320 on FanDuel. In Rounds 7-12, it's +550, and in Rounds 9-12 it's +850. I like the latter, in particular, as a longshot sprinkle.

So, in totality, I'll play Thursday night by betting Stevenson on points at -250 as a parlay leg, possibly with Emanuel Navarrete via KO (+110 at FanDuel) against former Stevenson foe Robson Conceicao in Thursday's co-feature for the WBO super featherweight championship.

I will also sprinkle on Stevenson to win by KO/TKO in Rounds 9-12 at +850 on FanDuel.

Good luck and don't go broke.

The Picks: Shakur Stevenson by Unanimous Decision (-200 at DraftKings) | Stevenson by Points or Decision (-250) as parlay leg | Stevenson in Rounds 9-12 (+850)