On Saturday night from Madison Square Garden Teofimo Lopez puts his Ring Magazine and WBO super lightweight titles at stake against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson.
The road to Saturday’s championship clash between two of boxing’s best began inside the locker room of Stevenson before his November 2023 fight with Edwin De Los Santos in Las Vegas.
Ring 6: Lopez v Stevenson | Sunday 1 Feb from 10am AEDT | Brooklyn-born Teofimo Lopez will defend his Ring and WBO Junior Welterweight titles when he takes on Newark, NJ native Shakur Stevenson at The Garden. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
It was his son’s birthday, but Lopez wanted to go wish his then-stablemate good luck, watch the fight, and then return home to spend the remainder of the day with his family.
But when Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) got backstage, he felt something different coming from Stevenson.
After seeing the video, Lopez knew he was right in his assertion of what he felt on that November evening inside T-Mobile Arena.
“I was just wishing the dude luck. Do your thing,” Lopez explained to DAZN News.
“It was my son’s birthday. I told the wife, I said, ‘Hey, listen, I’m going to go see him real quick. I’m going to go see the fight’.
“But I didn’t see the fight. I went there. I spoke with Floyd Mayweather for like 20 minutes.
“And then Wali (Moses), his grandfather (and trainer), took me to the back.
“Mind you, all them other people that’s in the locker room don’t really mess with me. But I go in there thorough. I keep it like it is.
“But Wali is very good at letting people know. They all respect him. So they’re all going to let me get in. So I thank him for that. I see Shakur.
“Then the first thing he says is, ‘Man, you look small. You small.’ And I said, ‘What the.. man, you got to focus on De Los Santos.
“You (are) focusing on the wrong things right now. You’re about to get up in there’. But that’s me in my head saying that. So I didn’t think too much more of it. I said, ‘All right, do your thing man’.
“I go, and after that, afterwards, I’m sitting there for a little bit longer. Once he gets in the ring, I see J-Prince, his manager, and I see Antonio as well, his co-manager.
“I see them, I nod, and then I leave. I head home before the first bell rang.”
Stevenson won the fight by unanimous decision to capture the WBC title, but the fight left a lot of fans frustrated.
It’s one fight that Lopez was glad to leave because he got to spend more precious time with his son.
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“I’m very happy I left,” Lopez laughed.
“I would’ve been pissed. I would’ve really been upset. I came to see the fights, and I see that at the end.
“Missed my son’s, the rest of my son’s night with me for his birthday.
“I’m glad I went back home.”
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JUNE 09: In this handout image provided by Top Rank, Shakur Stevenson punches Felix Caraballo during their super featherweight bout at MGM Grand Conference Center Grand Ballroom on June 09, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Meanwhile, Deontay Wilder’s former trainer, Malick Scott, has revealed one crucial change Lopez will need to make to beat Stevenson.
Appearing on the latest edition of Inside The Ring, Scott spoke about where this weekend’s main event could be won and lost.
First, he focused on Stevenson and highlighted his jab as “one of the best jabs in the business”, and how it gives him a distinct advantage over his opponents.
“Shakur has one of the best jabs in the business in my opinion, especially from a southpaw standpoint,” Scott said.
“As fighters have this rocking back and forth before their offense, Shakur always catches it and hits you with the jab. He has a great measure of distance and he has great timing.
“This is something Teo has to avoid.”
How does Lopez combat Stevenson’s jab?
Moving on to Lopez, Scott showed that Lopez often finds himself susceptible to jabs from a southpaw.
Analysing footage from Lopez’s win over Jamaine Ortiz in 2024, the former found himself frequently on the wrong end of Ortiz’s jab.
Scott then revealed this was due to Lopez having his lead hand down, something which he labelled a “tragedy”.
“When Teo was going against Ortiz, he was fighting a southpaw with the lead hand down, that’s a tragedy,” continued Scott.
“Why is it a tragedy, because you’re closer to the opponent’s lead hand and don’t forget Shakur has a very good jab.
“He made a very, very bad mistake” | 00:50
“Teo with his lead hand down is open to the jab. I highly recommend that he approaches Shakur going into offense with his lead hand up.”
If Lopez and his team have recognised this flaw, and have encouraged the defending world champion to keep his lead hand up, then it will put him in good stead to topple Stevenson who is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.
This article first appeared on DAZN.com and was reproduced with permission.