The argument Teofimo should have made about Shakur

& Shakur fought for 2 vacant titles! 🥶 https://t.co/c81CucGwh1

— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) May 29, 2026

Teofimo absolutely has a point. If he really wanted to expose the facade, he could have gone much further than a simple tweet about empty belts. The blueprint for criticizing Shakur is there, and it’s far more damning than just looking at how a few titles were obtained.

The Edwin De Los Santos fight at T-Mobile Arena is the ultimate example. Winning a world title in a show so completely devoid of action that the crowd actively boos you out of the building isn’t exactly legendary stuff. It was historic for all the wrong reasons, setting records for fewest punches landed in a 12-round fight.

Then you look at the William Zepeda fight. The official scorecards of 118-110 and 119-109 were pure fantasyland compared to what actually happened in that ring. Zepeda turned him into a full human pincushion with a relentless body attack. Shakur was hit with heavy body shots all night, but the judges gave Zepeda almost no credit for completely controlling the physical narrative of those middle rounds. It was a dogfight, but the lopsided scores made it look like a pristine masterclass on paper.

This is the real ammunition that Teofimo left on the table. Instead of focusing on the politics of vacant belts, he could have pointed out that Shakur’s pristine reputation relies heavily on favorable reviews and a style that relies on running when the heat is on.

The machinery behind Shakur has undeniably done a masterful job of protecting the asset, ensuring that the matchups and the positioning keep him insulated from a truly devastating reality check.