It had been rumored for a while, although nothing substantial was set until now — WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez Jr.'s next fight will come against Shakur Stevenson, long a target of “The Takeover,” on Saturday, Jan. 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City on DAZN. Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) will be putting up his WBO super lightweight and The Ring titles, while WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) makes his first foray in the 140-pound class.
“It’s a great opportunity for Shakur,” Lopez told Uncrowned, laughing, having signed the deal for the fight on Friday, Nov. 14. “This will be for my two world titles, The Ring magazine and WBO belts. This was more Stevenson wanting me, not me wanting him. I didn’t want to be in cohoots with his team or management. I didn’t want to get involved with them. The cards were laid down, and if this is what they are willing to pay, we decided to make the fight happen at 140.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I don’t respect Shakur. He thinks he can take my throne. He had everything handed to him. I haven’t. Everything I achieved, I worked for. He has that Olympic résumé [as a bantamweight silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics]. I get it. For me, Shakur is getting a push that is not deserved. He has been getting that push since his amateur days. I feel like I am the one who will take that away. I've fought better fighters as a pro than he has. Look at my résumé. Look who I have beaten.”
It will be the first big fight in the United States in 2026.
And it fits.
Lopez and Stevenson are both 28 years old. They are both in the prime of their careers. They are both 5-foot-8. Lopez has a 68.5-inch reach, Stevenson has a 68-inch reach. Lopez fights out of an orthodox stance, while Stevenson is a southpaw. Their styles drastically clash. Lopez is a boxer-puncher, while Stevenson is a boxer with little pop.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLopez does have the deeper résumé. He beat Masayoshi Nakatani in 2019, Vasiliy Lomachenko for the unified IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight titles in 2020, suffered his only loss as a professional by split decision in 2021 to George Kambosos Jr., who was never was the same afterward and lost four of his next six fights. Lopez has since beaten previously undefeated Josh Taylor for the WBO and The Ring super lightweight championship in 2023, and handed Arnold Barboza Jr. his first pro defeat this past May in Lopez’s only fight of 2025.
Stevenson’s first signature pro victory came against Joet Gonzalez in taking the vacant WBO featherweight title in 2019. He stopped Jemel Herring in the 10th round for the WBO super featherweight title in 2021. He unified the WBO and WBC super featherweight and won the vacant Ring belt over Oscar Valdez in April 2022, lost his belts on the scale his following fight in his decision victory over Robson Conceiçao in September 2022, then beat Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC lightweight title in 2023. Stevenson’s most significant victory was his most recent fight, beating previously undefeated William Zepeda in Stevenson’s third WBC lightweight title defense in July 2025.
Stevenson’s victories over Artem Harutyunyan and De Los Santos arrived with some audience consternation attached, as fans walked out due to lackluster action.
This could be an ugly fight.
“Making this a great fight has everything to do with me, because I learned from the previous guy [Jamaine Ortiz in Lopez’s 2024 title defense] running away from me,” Lopez said. “The thing about me is, do I have the fire to want to fight, to get hit and put action into it? When I faced Ortiz, I did not have that grit to want to get hit. I allowed Ortiz to do those things when I should not have. The TV commentators were trying to steal it for Ortiz. It’s why I pushed it in the championship rounds to win. I closed the fight in my favor.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Moving forward, people will think this will be another Ortiz type of fight. Everyone who thinks that will be wrong. I have other levels I can reach. I knew I was better than Ortiz. When I went into the Josh Taylor fight, I wanted to show what I could really do, and I did. I could have stopped him in the ninth round by turning it up a little bit. Instead, I carried him to 12. This one, I want to show everyone everything. This will be a spectacle to people.
“Stevenson doesn’t not know how to come forward," Lopez continued. "It will be up to me, when the right time is to put the tone in, when I put those sections of tone in, when going forward and retreating at the same time in those gaps between his style. Shakur has a delayed jab. He has certain things in his arsenal that I don’t have to be too quick like other fighters had to be facing him. Even though his punches are slow, they connect with other fighters. All I have to do is time his speed.”
Lopez, the 2020 Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year, said that learning how to time Stevenson’s punches will be an emphasis during training camp. He will train on the West Coast.
“This fight was made by Turki Alalshikh and my guys, Keith Connolly, Mike Borao and Greg Smith,” Lopez said. “After the whole thing fell through with Devin Haney, we started talking about this fight in September. Turki said Shakur had an interest in fighting us. We decided to do it. I’m very pleased with this fight. It’s a good start for the new year and a good start for my career moving forward. I had a slow 2025. I would like to fight three times [in 2026], possibly again in April or May, and then again in September or October.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Shakur can’t hurt me. I can hurt him. He knows it. I know it. Everyone knows it. The only thing that can hurt me is his cat-and-mouse games. As for punching power, he has nothing. We just have to prepare for everything and anything. God rest his soul, now that Victor Conte has passed, who knows what kind of supplements SNAC is providing Shakur. I want to stay sharp on everything else. I said it before, at the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez fight, the new-school is in and the old-school is out. We’re ready to take over. I don’t respect Shakur. I think what he does is a facade. He has never faced anyone like me.
“I worked for what I got," Lopez finished. "It’s why I will win January 31. Boxing is known more for guys they built up, like me, not guys they made up, like Shakur.”
AdvertisementAdvertisement
