There was an internal conflict whether Edwin De Los Santos should have taken another fight in between title shots.
On the one hand, the last memory of the Dominican lightweight contender in the ring was his unwatchable vacant WBC title clash with Shakur Stevenson nearly 19 months ago in Las Vegas.
There was also the part, however, where the 25-year-old De Los Santos wanted to be at full health once an opportunity like this came back around. So, he made the most of an extended ring break once it was confirmed that he was next up for newly crowned WBO lightweight titlist Keyshawn Davis.
“I took a long time to recover but it was intentional, for the most part,” De Los Santos told BoxingScene. “I entered training camp at one hundred percent. I’m confident that I will be at one hundred and ten percent on fight night.
“During those 19 months, I didn’t take any punches. My body rested, that’s why I insist that I’m at one hundred percent. I’m not worried about ring rust, I’m just ready to fight.”
Davis-De Los Santos takes place this Saturday on ESPN from The Scope in Davis’ hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs), a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, tore through unbeaten Denys Berinchyk inside of four rounds to win the WBO 135lbs title on Valentine’s Day in New York City.
De Los Santos, 16-2 (14 KOs) was an interested observer given his desire to get another crack at a lightweight belt. That desire increased exponentially once he and promoter Sampson Lewkowicz received the call to challenge for the title.
There was a brief moment where it was believed that De Los Santos was no longer in the running to challenge Davis. A misunderstanding among his team over the financial compensation offered to De Los Santos was resolved in time – in part, thanks to the media who helped raise the issue - to where he didn’t lose his place in line.
“There was a little economic issue, but we got it resolved,” noted De Los Santos, who politely declined to further elaborate on the matter. “Thankfully, it was available and we’re back in position to get this world title. “I’m grateful for the media. Thanks to them, things were discovered. We were able to clear up everything from there.”
It meant only a 19-month wait to hopefully wash away the bad taste that still lingers from his stinker with Stevenson. The two combined to land just 105 punches on the night; De Los Santos’ 40 connects set the futility mark for fewest landed in a twelve-round fight.
Even more unfortunate than that ugly memory was that it negated his career progress.
De Los Santos rebounded from an upset loss to William Foster with three straight wins, including a third-round knockout of then-unbeaten and heavily favored Jose 'Rayo' Valenzuela. That feat came on short notice, but was still De Los Santos' third fight in barely eight months.
He had to wait another ten months before his next opportunity. De Los Santos made the most of it with a ten-round decision over Joseph Adorno to position himself for his first major title shot. The horrible clash of styles with Stevenson, however, only made it that much more difficult to get divisional rivals to look his way.
From an action standpoint, history isn’t expected to repeat itself this weekend. Whether De Los Santos can fare better than Davis’ last opponent remains to be seen, though he is confident the style clash works better in his favor on that front as well.
“Shakur didn’t come to fight, he came to run,” De Los Santos said, in as much as he’d like to reflect on that fight. “We figured we could force Shakur to fight at a certain point. That never happened, and the fans had their say about it. I don’t expect to be the case against Keyshawn. He has a much different style from Shakur and will be right there, ready to fight.
“Berinchyk was tailor made for Keyshawn, and he did what he had to do with that guy. I don’t fight like anything like Berinchyk, so I’m not worried. I can adapt to any style. I’m here to let Top Rank know whether they have a fighter who can take my punch. That’s all I really want to give away until fight night, I plan to test his chin.”
An upset win would certainly cast De Los Santos’ career in an entirely new light. He’s long served as a fighter who’s had to wait for a phone call rather than one who gets to call the shots.
Claiming his first title figures to do the trick.
“After I win this world title, everything will be different,” vowed De Los Santos. “I don’t mean that like I call the shots and will treat others how I was treated. It will be the opposite – I’m going to take on all comers, because I want to beat everyone in my division and prove who’s the best lightweight in the world.”