Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, WBC lightweight Champ Shakur Stevenson put on a boxing masterclass over 12 rounds to beat WBO junior welterweight champ Teofimo Lopez.
We wondered if Shakur Stevenson would be able to move up in weight, again, and still be effective? Well, he answered that over a 12 round masterful decision win against WBO 140 lb. Teofimo Lopez. And, in the process, became the latest elite fighter to win four world titles in four weight divisions.
Stevenson was in complete control from the first round with his southpaw right jab and his elusiveness. Although, Lopez came forward but was never able to put sustained offense together. And each round saw the former Olympic champion continue to hit without really getting hit.
Lopez now 22-2, 13 KOs, a Brooklyn, New York, native couldn't get the capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden to do very much cheering for him. Meanwhile, the Newark, NJ, native Stevenson's fans could be heard at times when he scored the "1-2" combos of the right jab and left hand behind them.
“I knew my jab was going to kill him,” Stevenson said to DAZN in the ring after the fight. “I told everybody before the fight they’re going to say I got the best jab in boxing after this fight because I seen where he’s weak at and I capitalized off it.”
Watch highlights of Stevenson's domination here:
Round after round Stevenson was the quicker, more accurate and even surprisingly seemed to be the stronger, fighter. The 28 year old Lopez was thrown aside by Shakur in clinches several times, as the fight wore on.
“I felt like I was the stronger fighter," Stevenson continued after the fight. "I felt like I was faster. I was smarter and I was sharper. I appreciate Teo for giving me the opportunity. He’s one of the best fighters I’ve been in there with but I did what I was supposed to do.”
While Lopez struggled to find anything positive, his father and trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr., had just as tough a night in the corner, offering no serious instruction or a plan B. After the fourth round all he could come up with was, “You gotta hit him, yo!”
Stevenson cut Lopez over his left eye in the sixth and the champion's corner was inept to even stop the blood flow in the second half of the bout. The new champ won on scores of 119-109 (11-1 in rounds) on all three cards and improves to 25-0, 11 KOs. The 28 year old is clearly one of the top pound for pound fighters in the sport
“Teofimo is a hell of a fighter but I was the better man tonight,” Stevenson said. “He’s a fighter and he tried to fight back but I picked him apart. I did what I was supposed to do. I said I boxed guys like this my entire career.”
Lopez, the former three belt unified lightweight champion, had previously shined as an underdog against his best opponents, winning decisive decisions against future hall of famer, Ukranian Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020 and won his WBO 140 lb. crown upsetting Scotland's Josh Taylor in 2023.
But there would be no magic Saturday night against Stevenson, who was better beginning to end. He outlanded Lopez according to Compubox 165-72 in total punches and a staggering 105-16 in total jabs for the easy victory.
“Hey, man, every dog got its day. So, congratulations to Shakur,” Lopez said in the ring.
When asked what went wrong, Lopez did not offer any reasons or make excuses.
“I could say a lot of things. Still gonna be the wrong thing,” he said. “(Stevenson is a) great guy, great fighter. We came out here, we took everything. We put everything on the line. That’s what true champions are all about.”
It's unclear whether Lopez will stay at 140 lb. and vacate the WBC lightweight belt, but he will have to make that decision within the next month or two because he hasn't defended that title since last July, when he beat consensus #1 contender William Zepeda in a 12 round decision in Queens, NY.
On the undercard, Brooklyn's Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington remained unbeaten and captured the WBC's featherweight world title with a ninth round TKO of veteran Carlos Castro. Carrington actually took some punishment in the fight, but was clearly faster and landing bigger shots as the bout went along. He finished Castro with a big right hand knockdown and it was obvious that Castro couldn't get up, so the referee stopped the count for the TKO.
At 28 Carrington is now 17-0 and an a tremendous "talker" to help promote his fights. So, now we wait to see, if he takes a bigger step next time out in 2026.