Russell says that he has trained with Stevenson in the past and studied his game, noting what things he has trouble with. He saw that he is comfortable when he takes the lead and “dictates the action”. Shakur is learning how to fight in the pocket, but still isn’t comfortable with pressure, especially with combo punches.
In Shakur’s last fight against William Zepeda, he looked vulnerable as he was beaten with threes and fours by the Mexican volume puncher. He fought better when there was only one punch coming from Zepeda at a time.
“If he’s in shape and his game plan is the first five or six rounds, ‘Whenever I close the distance, I touch him with threes and fours,’ that would put Shakur on the defensive,” Gary Russell said MillCity Boxing on how Teofimo Lopez can beat Shakur Stevenson.
What could be a problem for Teofimo is if Shakur moves like he did against Edwin De Los Santos. If he fights like this and stays on his bike for 12 rounds, it will be difficult for Teo to land his punches. He will have to push Stevenson like he did against Jamaine Ortiz and Lomachenko to connect.
“Shakur is trying to fight a little more comfortably in the pocket, but he’s more of a boxer. He likes to dictate the action. When you bring that s*** to him and give him something to think about, you’re getting somewhere,” Russell said.
Stevenson never looked comfortable fighting Zepeda in the pocket. He was beaten with body shots all night, and he took enough punches to the head to swell his cheeks and bleed his lips. He took more punishment than Zepeda, who threw nearly 1,000 punches. Many of them were on the body.
“I don’t believe he has to hurt Shakur to win the fight. He just has to have a certain level of aggression, and his approach has to be direct,” Russell said.
Lopez needs to apply pressure, throw combinations and not let Stevenson move around unchallenged. The punches that Teofimo does land will have to be to the head as he may not get credit if he mostly throws body punches.
“Close the distance, and as soon as you get in range, slide, boom, boom, boom – every time – two, three, four, boom, boom, boom. Put a jab on him. Put a stick on him and keep closing. What that’s going to do is make Shakur look hesitant,” Russell says.
Whenever De Los Santos closed the distance, Shakur always escaped. In one case he jumped to escape. The image turned into a meme because it looked so bad. He wanted no part of standing in the bag against De Los Santos.
Lopez will have to cut off the ring and use quick feet to stay with Stevenson, as he has already said he won’t fight in the bag again after the Zepeda fight because he was beaten too much.
