Shakur Stevenson: Edwin de Los Santos is “20 times better” than Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz

Shakur Stevenson praises his former opponent highly, Edwin De Los Santos. In addition, he even compared the 24-year-old with Isaac Cruz on social media today! The question is, however, what led to this confession from the WBC lightweight champion? Let’s start from the beginning. “Pitbull” Cruz suffered an astronomical defeat to the underdog on August 3 Jose Valenzuela.

Despite the odds, Valenzuela put on an impressive performance and took the win by split decision, becoming the WBA junior welterweight champion. This seems to have sparked a conversation between Shakur Stevenson and Cigar Talk host Naji on X, which eventually led to talks of a rematch between Edwin De Los Santos and Jose Valenzuela.

Shakur Stevenson shares predictions for the possible fight

“Rayo” Valenzuela and De Los Santos previously faced each other in September 2022, with the latter ending the fight via knockout in the third round. This came after De Los Santos sent Valenzuela to the mat twice in rounds two and three after being knocked down himself in the second round.

Regardless, with Valenzuela’s breakthrough victory over Isaac Cruz in Los Angeles as the opening act for Terence Crawford Comparisons Israel MadrimovNaji told X, suggesting that the best next step for ‘Rayo’ would be to face De Los Santos and avenge his defeat. The Newark native was quick to make a prediction, responding: “Edwin wins again.”

In response, Naji claimed that he feels the same but is curious to see if “Rayo” can maintain his performance. Shakur Stevenson, who fought Edwin De Los Santos in November last year and came under scrutiny for his slow performance, claimed: “Edwin is 20 times better than a pit bull. I’ve tried to tell people that.”

Interestingly, the fight between Stevenson and De Los Santos felt more like a game of cat and mouse! Stevenson landed a few punches on De Los Santos and ran out of his opponent’s reach. This continued throughout the fight until Stevenson won the fight by unanimous decision.

The public reaction to this fight was enormous and it didn’t get much better when Stevenson fought Artem Harutyunyan earlier this year. Despite the loss, Cruz may not be happy with the final outcome that night.

Isaac Cruz leaves the decision to the others

Earlier this year, Isaac Cruz scored a fantastic eighth-round KO victory against Rolly Romero in his debut at junior welterweight. This had led many to believe that Valenzuela would be an easy task for the up-and-coming Mexican talent, who had only suffered a single loss to Gervonta Davis when they struck back in December 2021.

However, after Valenzuela ended Cruz’s five-fight winning streak since Davis, Cruz said during the post-fight ring interview through his translator: “Listen to the people. They are the judges of all this, not me.” He added: “I never like to make decisions about the outcome of the fight. I just get on with my job and let everyone else decide.”

However, Shakur Stevenson seems to be convinced that Edwin De Los Santos is far better than Isaac Cruz, especially after the latter’s last performance. However, it is not clear if Jose Valenzuela is seeking a rematch against De Los Santos. However, Cruz had indicated that he is seeking a rematch against “Rayo” Valenzuela. Do you agree with Shakur Stevenson?