Andreas HaleFeb 1, 2026, 12:20 AM ET
CloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.
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WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. defends his title Saturday against Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) has won six straight fights since his upset loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021. A former unified lightweight champion, he is making his fourth defense of the 140-pound belt he captured with a unanimous decision win over Josh Taylor in June 2023. Lopez also owns notable victories over Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020 and Arnold Barboza Jr. last May.
Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) moves up in weight to challenge Lopez, marking his debut at junior welterweight. Already a world champion at featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight, Stevenson is aiming to become a four-division titleholder. He’s coming off a dominant victory over William Zepeda in July.
Stay here for live updates, results and round-by-round analysis from Andreas Hale.