Teofimo Lopez pushed back at Gervonta Davis’ “Boxing is dead” remark today, pointing out that many fighters are “still coming to the gym to stay relevant.”
WBO light welterweight champion Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) is training for a super-fight against Shakur Stevenson, which is expected to take place in January 2026. It’s a fight that could see Teofimo pick up a career-high payday depending on how big a purse Turki Alalshikh will offer him.
With the giant purse that Teofimo is expected to get fighting Shakur Stevenson next, it’s understandable that he’s still motivated. He hasn’t yet reached the negative burnout stage that Tank Davis has.
Shakur Stevenson Hit-and-Run Style Problem
Lopez will have to find a way to solve Shakur’s hit-and-run amateur style for him to be victorious in this fight. Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) isn’t expected to stand and fight him like he did against William Zepeda on July 12, 2025. Teofimo hits too hard and is too dangerous for Shakur to fight that way.
What Stevenson will be doing is trying to frustrate Lopez, make him fight recklessly by being overly aggressive, so he can take advantage of it.
Can Teofimo win a decision?
The real question is, can Teofimo Lopez win a decision against Shakur? Will Teofimo need a knockout to win? If it’s your Teo, it would be a good idea to focus on head-hunting to ensure he gets the victory by knocking out Shakur.
I’d be nervous if I were Lopez after taking note of those weirdly lopsided scores that were turned in for Stevenson’s last fight against William Zepeda. They didn’t match the actual fight. Zepeda fought well enough to deserve a draw or a close loss, yet the judges gave it to Stevenson by the scores 118-110, 118-110, and 119-109.
That comes out to 10-2 and 11-1 in favor of Shakur. The judges literally gave Zepeda no credit for anything he did in that fight, even in the early rounds when he was working Shakur over by burying him with volume. If Teofimo is treated the same way by the judges, he won’t stand a chance of winning, apart from knocking Stevenson out.
The status of the Shakur-Lopez is that it’s reportedly still being negotiated. Once it’s signed, an official announcement will be made.
Lopez Rejects Tank Davis Remark
Lopez obviously disagrees with Gervonta about boxing being a dying sport, and a lot of people do as well. If it were dying, there wouldn’t be so many retired fighters returning in their 40s and 50s to try to make more money than they did during their careers.
“If Boxing’s dead, why do all these ‘fighters’ keep coming here to stay relevant?” #Boxing pic.twitter.com/shuidhrtLS
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) September 28, 2025
Boxing is hotter than diarrhea, and that is some hot 💩!
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) September 28, 2025
Tank Davis had posted on X, stating that the sport lacked loyalty, and he later announced that he would be retiring in eight weeks. He came across as disillusioned by the sport. But obviously not enough for him to stay it long enough to pick up a $40 million paycheck for his exhibition match against Jake Paul on November 14.
Davis has been stung by the criticism he received from fans and the media for his 12-round draw against Lamont Roach on March 1, 2025. He’s also been criticized for not taking risks by fighting Shakur Stevenson and the other top lightweights.
The perception is that Gervonta has chosen to take the easy fights that his promoters have given him rather than insisting on fighting opposition that would have been more risky and given bigger paydays. Davis’ fight against Roach was supposed to have been a sure-thing win for him, but it turned out to be tougher than he expected.