Tim Bradley predicts that Teofimo Lopez will target Shakur Stevenson’s body during their fight on January 31, 2026.
Bradley says he watched some of Shakur’s previous fights and noticed that he likes to stand in front of his opponents so he can use his “screen” style. He is not a risk taker, and offensive like WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs).
Bradley sees a body-first game plan
“The optics, how it looks when it comes forward, whether it’s on the shoulders, chest, it doesn’t matter,” Tim Bradley said on his channel about how Teofimo Lopez will give Shakur Stevenson problems with the pressure he will apply.
If Lopez is the aggressor it may not be enough for him to win rounds. If the judges were only focused on awarding rounds based on two or three shots landing cleanly, they could award the rounds to Stevenson. Teo will need to make sure he connects cleanly and focuses enough headers to sway the judges. Many of them pay more attention to head shots.
Shakur’s ‘Fencing’ style
“I’m going to tell you where he’s going because I watched a little bit of Shakur last night. He’s going to Shakur’s body, straight punches to the body,” Bradley says. “Shakur likes to be right in front. Have you ever seen fences? They’re right in front of each other.
In Stevenson’s last fight against William Zepeda on July 12, he was hit hard to the body. Interestingly, the judges working the fight seemed oblivious to the body punch that Zepeda did. They scored it 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.
Will body shots even count?
Shakur fought with his back against the ropes all night, leaning his head over the ropes to protect them. Zepeda had free rein all night to land body shots, which he did, but surprisingly the judges gave Stevenson virtually every round. If the same judges who worked that fight are on duty for the Lopez-Stevenson contest, Teofimo should forget throwing to the body because it won’t count towards the scoring.
“Teofimo can contort his body to get offense for himself. The thing about Teo is, he’s a risk taker. Shakur needs to be safe because he’s a defense-first type of fighter, and Shakur won’t take offense unless he really feels like he’s going to land,” Bradley said.
Last updated on 12/03/2025
