Say this for Edwin De Los Santos: he’s not afraid to take on the best. In his first fight since his loss to Shakur Stevenson in November 2023, De Los Santos will step into the ring with WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis.

In an interview with the YouTube channel “Broadway Joel,” which focuses on Dominican boxing, De Los Santos, 16-2 (14 KOs) seemed to view his inactivity as a positive. In a Dominican Spanish interview with English subtitles, De Los Santos said, “nobody knows my body better than me, and it is a rest to come in fresh, without blows, without anything.”

It’s hard to blame him. A rather under-discussed part of boxing, and the constant demand that boxers take fights more often, is that more activity means more head trauma.

De Los Santos also said that his weight cut is going well, a good sign given that the bout is still almost a month away.

He will be eager to erase the lingering criticism from his last bout. There is no shame in losing to Stevenson by decision; the slick southpaw may not take more than ten flush, hurtful punches for the rest of his career. But after a buzzy buildup in which De Los Santos poked fun at Stevenson’s incessant social media activity by calling him “Shakira Twitterson,” the fight fell flat.

Stevenson, nursing injuries after a difficult training camp, essentially played keep-away. De Los Santos tried to press the action, though not particularly hard. Stevenson got the brunt of the blame for the limp affair, but the fight had mattered more to De Los Santos, who had a shot at a world title and didn’t sell out.

In another segment on “Broadway Joel,” De Los Santos pointed to the airless cards in Times Square and Saudi Arabia, and asked if any of those fighters could cut off the ring either. As it turns out, more often than not, if a defensively skilled boxer decides that they’d rather not engage, they get their way.

Still, that can leave a bad taste in the fans’ mouths. Stevenson’s previously glittering reputation in the eyes of boxing fans and media prior to November 2023 hasn’t quite recovered since. De Los Santos said on “Broadway Joel” that he felt indebted to himself, not the fans, but by paying himself back with a good performance he would pay the fans back, too.

His next opponent may not be any easier, however. Davis is fresh off two dominating stoppage victories over Gustavo Lemos and Denys Berinchyk, taking the WBO lightweight title from the latter. He is a precise, violent counterpuncher, he is in his prime at 26, and he has stayed far more active than De Los Santos without taking much damage in the ring.

And Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs) is elite: his recent victories have left him just below the fringe of the pound-for-pound list. FanDuel has him as a -1100 favorite to beat De Los Santos. 

De Los Santos looked relaxed and at ease during the casual interview segments. What will count, however, is if he can match Davis’ class in the ring.