Our resident boxing expert Rob Tebbutt looks ahead to Thursday night's world title double-header in Las Vegas as Shakur Stevenson & Emanuel Navarette put their straps on the line.
Shakur Stevenson (-1400) v Edwin De Los Santos (+800)
Edwin De Los Santos takes on undefeated Shakur Stevenson in the headlining bout for the vacant WBC Lightweight Championship.
With a win, Stevenson would move to 21-0 in his professional career and become a three-weight world champion, having already won title belts in the featherweight and super featherweight classes.
Stevenson forfeited his title belts due to coming in 1.6 pounds overweight ahead of a 2022 match against Robson Conceicao, who is fighting in the penultimate match on this card.
Dominican Republic native De Los Santos is 24, two years younger than Stevenson, and this title fight will be his fifth in the United States. He holds a record of 16-1, with 14 of those wins via knockout, and his only loss was a split decision in his first fight in the States.
De Los Santos enters as a massive underdog, and all the pressure will be on Stevenson to win a title and extend his unbeaten record.
Rob Tebbutt's Tip
While De Los Santos is a skilled fighter, he will find it hard to break down the silky Shakur Stevenson.
Stevenson has added power to his punches and is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and as a result, he will wear down De Los Santos as the fight goes longer. I like Stevenson to win by KO or TKO at +250. If you're looking for extra value, consider taking Stevenson to win between rounds 7 and 12 at +400.
Emanuel Navarrete (-900) v Robson Conceicao (+550)
In the co-Main Event, WBO Super Featherweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete takes on 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Robson Conceicao for the belt.
Navarrete enters his second title defense as the -900 favorite. He is +120 to win by a fight stoppage - knockout, technical knockout, or disqualification - which is how he won the vacant championship with a ninth-round TKO over Liam Wilson.
In his first title defense against Oscar Valdez, Navarrete took him the distance and retained his title via unanimous decision.
Conceicao, on the other hand, has not won since January 2022.
It should be noted that Conceicao's losing effort against Shakur Stevenson in September 2022 was fought at catchweight due to Stevenson coming in overweight and his lone 2023 bout ended in a no contest when his opponent could not continue after a clash of heads.
Rob Tebbutt's Tip
I think that Navarrete will grind Conceicao down in the same manner he used to beat Valdez. Conceicao is skilled, but Navarrete has been too good as of late. Sure, Navarrete has shown inconsistency before, but I think he has too much for Conceicao and as a result, I will take Navarrete to win by stoppage at +120. Consider taking Navarrete to win between rounds 7 and 12 at +500 if you're looking for extra value.
All odds and Bet Boosts were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or fluctuation.
