Don’t let the goofball theatrics or any of Teofimo Lopez Jr’s makes an attempt to get inside Shakur Stevenson’s head this week distract you from the truth that Saturday’s junior welterweight showdown is a showcase of all the pieces that is proper in regards to the sport of boxing.
Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) will defend WBO 140-pound title in opposition to the three-division champion Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) inside a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York (DAZN PPV, 6 p.m. ET) in the principle occasion of a must-see “Ring 6” card introduced by Turki Alalshikh. This scorching matchup between two of the highest 10 pound-for-pound fighters on the planet has additionally featured no love misplaced between the 2 opponents.
A local of Brooklyn, New York, who now fights out of Las Vegas, the 28-year-old Lopez spent most of Thursday’s remaining press convention clowning Stevenson with infantile verbiage in an try and get inside his head. It was par for the course for Lopez, who has longed relied upon psychological warfare to persuade opponents and critics that he is unfocused or mentally unfit earlier than delivering the sort of breakthrough performances — usually as a betting underdog, which he’s as soon as once more on Saturday — that his legacy has been constructed upon.
Despite his shiny report, Lopez might be wildly inconsistent contained in the ring, particularly when dealing with opponents lower than his degree. But it has been his capacity to step up his sport when the lights are the brightest, together with victories over lineal champions Vasily Lomachenko at light-weight (2020) and Josh Taylor at junior welterweight (2023), which have made the athletic counterpuncher so harmful.
In a uncommon second of readability on Thursday, Lopez talked brazenly about how necessary the addition of latest coach Stacy McKinley, who will help his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., within the nook, was to his camp.
“No media, no documentaries this time around. No cameras, no people,” Lopez stated. “I tried to change that around this time just to see how it would do and I kid you not, so much more work has been done. I’ve been switching things around. I feel very good, excited and determined. I can’t wait to display it Saturday night.”
The 28-year-old Stevenson, a local of close by Newark, New Jersey, who now fights out of Houston, took Lopez’s antics in stride, save for a crass remark that Stevenson inadvertently interpreted as a joke about his mom precipitated him to get out of his seat and try and assault Lopez on the dais till safety intervened. Stevenson, nonetheless, introduced his personal ammunition to the occasion within the type of a brown-bag bottle of alcohol meant as a present to Lopez’s father, who was absent on the press convention, in reference to members of Stevenson’s crew claiming to have seen him inebriated the evening earlier than within the lodge foyer.
“No, it ain’t nothing personal, it’s all business,” Stevenson stated. “When it gets personal, it’s when people get emotional and I haven’t really felt that way. I’m 100% focused, I’m ready and Saturday night he’s going to see.
“Make certain you all tune in as a result of I’m going to beat this boy’s ass.”
Despite profitable a silver medal on the 2016 Rio Olympics and then claiming world titles between 126 and 135 kilos, Stevenson discovered himself closely criticized in recent times for boring performances as the largest names in his divisions continued to keep away from him. The narrative appeared to swing again in Stevenson’s favor final July when he stood within the pocket in opposition to unbeaten William Zepeda and scored an thrilling and large determination win.
Not solely will the winner of Lopez-Stevenson probably discover themselves catapulted right into a crowded high 5 of the P4P rankings, he will even be within the driver’s seat for any variety of large fights involving boxing’s largest names between 135 and 147 kilos.
The undercard on Saturday additionally options the return of Keyshawn Davis when the previous light-weight champion makes the transfer as much as junior welterweight and takes on Jamaine Ortiz. Davis, 26, is seeking to erase any lingering doubts about his capacity after a debacle final summer season when he did not make weight for his scheduled title protection in opposition to Edwin De Los Santos in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia by over 4 kilos. The two groups couldn’t come to an settlement on compensation and the fight was canceled. Then, Davis was a part of a melee when his brother, Kelvin, misplaced to Nahir Albright and Keyshawn, alongside together with his second brother, Keon, allegedly jumped Albright within the backstage space. Keyshawn and his household have been subsequently ejected from the world. Keyshawn then declared he would take time away from boxing to get again on observe.
Fight card, odds
Odds by way of DraftKings Sportsbook
- Shakur Stevenson -300 vs. Teofimo Lopez (c) +230, WBO and Ring junior welterweight title
- Keyshawn Davis -700 vs. Jamaine Ortiz +450, junior welterweights
- Bruce Carrington (c) -800 vs. Carlos Castro +500, WBC featherweight title
Where to observe Lopez vs. Stevenson
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 31 | Location: Madison Square Garden — New York
- Start time: 6 p.m. ET
- Where to observe: DAZN PPV | Price: $69.99
Prediction
With benefits in velocity, footwork and approach, it is comprehensible why the southpaw Stevenson, who has been seen for years as a future P4P king in ready, is a 3-to-1 betting favourite coming in. That does not imply, nonetheless, that the results of this fight is a foregone conclusion.
For as a lot as Stevenson has been good so far in outclassing the largest names he has shared the ring with, he has but to fight an opponent of Lopez’s measurement, expertise or athleticism as a quick-twitch puncher with respectable pop. Stevenson can be transferring up in weight to a fourth division in opposition to an unorthodox and explosive opponent who’s something however gradual and plodding.
The large query will change into whether or not Stevenson can have success in boxing Lopez from the skin or whether or not he’ll discipline the stress — just like the Zepeda fight — of being anticipated to be thrilling. Lopez, as a result of menace of his leaping counter photographs, can usually decrease the output of his opponents, which might make rounds tougher to attain for ringside judges as a result of lack of compelling photographs landed.
Either method it goes, this matchup brings collectively two of essentially the most expert and bodily gifted fighters of this period, just like how we now view, on reflection, Lopez’s 2020 victory over Lomachenko. The distinction between the southpaw Lomachenko, who was giving up measurement to Lopez, and Stevenson, nonetheless, is that Stevenson throws way more quantity and probably will not wait till the midpoint of the fight to start out making changes, which was what finally harm Lomachenko when he ran out of time after rallying again.
While few boxers in historical past can declare to be as distinctive and dynamic as Lomachenko, Stevenson is likely to be in a category of his personal from the standpoint of a pure and full boxer and the closest boxing has seen to observe within the lineage of nice thinkers and technicians like Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward and Terence Crawford. And it is pure boxing that is still the one a part of Lopez’s sport, particularly when he abandons his jab, that generally permits inferior opponents to hold with him on the scorecards.
Even with Lopez’s benefit in energy, Stevenson will probably show to be too expert to seek out himself in any bother and too good to get lured into any makes an attempt at short-range buying and selling that may favor Lopez. Stevenson, like Lopez, is the kind of boxer who seems to be and performs higher when he is dealing with elite and harmful competitors.
The largest distinction, nonetheless, is that Stevenson is extra full.
Pick: Stevenson by way of UD12
