By Per-Åke Persson
Light heavyweights Pawel Stepien (22-2-2) and France’s Daniel Blenda Dos Santos (23-1) meet at the Hotel Sheraton in Sopot, Poland, on Saturday (August 29) in a highly interesting matchup between two fighters who, at 35, are at a crossroads in their respective careers.
Both men have lost to Englishman Joshua Buatsi, and for the once-touted Stepien, things got even worse when he was stopped by Kajetan Kalinowski in his last fight. He badly needs a good win.
For Dos Santos, things were looking up in 2023 when he scored an upset win in Germany over Tom Dzemski to claim the EU title. He followed that by winning the EBU crown in 2024 but then pulled out of a title defense against Bradley Rea in London on April 4, 2025, due to illness. As it was the second time this had happened, he was eventually stripped of the title because of uncertainties regarding his health, and a long layoff followed.
Dos Santos returned to action earlier this year and defeated Camilo Castagno in a six-rounder, but he too needs a good win to get his career back on track.
