Teofimo Lopez said on Friday that the winner of a fight between him and Shakur Stevenson will be “the leader of the new generation.” In other words, Lopez believes their fight will determine the best guy at 140.
The Posed Leadership
The winner of Lopez-Stevenson would be a leader in name only, but not in the real sense. For them to be a leader, they would have to fight the best.
Shakur has no power, is all defense, and doesn’t fight at light welterweight. So, how a win over him makes Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) the “leader.” It proves nothing. It’s understandable for Lopez to hype his fight with Shakur like they’re the best, but we’ve already seen that neither of them is.
Shakur almost lost to Edwin De Los Santos two years ago, and he hasn’t faced a big puncher since. That was the last power-puncher Stevenson fought. His promoters have matched him carefully since that fight, putting him with Josh Padley, Artem Harutyunyan, and William Zepeda.
Do you think those guys were chosen by accident for Shakur? They saw what happened to him when he fought De Los Santos, and they haven’t taken any chances with him since.
“In order to make boxing great again, you’ve got to fight the best. So, if he’s the best at 135, he’s willing to come up to my weight division at 140. We make it happen,” said Teofimo Lopez to Inside The Ring, talking about wanting to fight Shakur Stevenson.
Words Not Backed by Fights
Why hasn’t Teofimo been fighting “the best” at light welterweight if he really wants to make “boxing great again”? He’s been at 140 since 2022 after he fled the 135-lb division when George Kambosos Jr beat him.
In the three years that Teo has been at 140, he’s never shown interest in fighting Gary Antuanne Russell, Subriel Matias, or Richardson Hitchins. He mouths the words of wanting to fight the best, but he never gets around to doing it. Why is that? I have my view. I think he doesn’t want to get beaten again.
“I think we both understand that the winner of this is the leader of the new generation. The old is out. The new is coming in. It’ll be great to see what I can do against Shakur Stevenson,” said Teofimo.
That doesn’t make sense. What Lopez is saying doesn’t make sense. He and Shakur are nearing 29, and they don’t count as “the new generation.” In a little over a year, Teofimo and Steveson will be 30 years old. There’s nothing young about that.
What Teo is doing by lumping himself and Shakur as being the “new generation” is an example of a poseur.
The younger fighters like Abdullah Mason, Ernesto Mercado, and Jadier Herrera are the new generation.
The 140-Pound Avoidance
The winner of the Lopez vs. Shakur fight, if it happens, isn’t going to be “leader of the new generation.” At 140, there are still these fighters that the winner of the Teofimo-Stevenson would need to fight to prove they’re the best in this weight class:
- Richardson Hitchins
- Gary Antuanne Russell
- Ernesto Mercado
- Subriel Matias
- Keyshawn Davis
- Jamaine Ortiz
- Oscar Duarte
“I don’t see anybody beating me, and I can’t make the fight happen,” said Shakur.
Shakur has shown no interest in fighting the powerful lightweights after the bad experience he had against Edwin De Los Santos in 2023. These are the big punchers at 135 that Stevenson still must beat to claim that he’s the King of the division.
The Real Threats at 135
- Andy Cruz: Ranked #1 WBC at lightweight
- Abdullah Mason
- Jadier Herrera
- Gervonta Davis.
One way for Stevenson to avoid getting beaten is by not fighting any of his top guys and continuing to pick and choose, as he has been doing in the past. William Zepeda isn’t good enough for Shakur to view himself as the best at 135 because he’s already been exposed by Tevin Farmer twice.
