Shakur is ‘Afraid of getting hit’, says Teofimo Lopez

Teofimo Lopez says his previous sparring with Shakur Stevenson showed him everything he needed to know. He saw a “scared” warrior who was “Afraid of being hit.”

Three rounds told Teo everything

What WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) learned from the three rounds of working with Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) is one of the reasons he agreed to fight him on January 31. He sees Shakur as vulnerable once you get past his jab.

Fans saw that weakness in Stevenson’s last fight when William Zepeda hurt him with a right hand in the third round of their fight on July 12, 2025. He collapsed into the ropes, looking like he had been shot by a silver bullet. Shakur was definitely held by the ropes.

Referee Ricky Gonzalez gave him a big break by not calling it a knockdown, but it clearly was. That punch was one of the few that Zepeda, a non-puncher, landed on Shakur’s head. He doesn’t have nearly the power that Teofimo Lopez possesses.

“Shakur is afraid of getting hit. Once you succeed his sting, he is food. He is afraid of being knocked down in front of the world. He is afraid of being touched in front of the world,” said Teofimo Lopez Cigar talk about Shakur Stevenson.

What Teo didn’t say is that Shakur’s biggest fear is getting hit upstairs, but he’s more willing to absorb body shots. He took a whole lot of them in the Zepeda fight. In round four, I counted 40 body punches that Zepeda landed, and it was a typical round.

Stevenson took an enormous amount of shots down, but still kept his guard around his head. It showed her getting hit way over the head, and it’s understandable why. Zepeda had him in trouble in the third.

Lopez smells vulnerability on January 31st

Lopez and Stevenson meet today for their kickoff conference in New York. This is the start of the promotion for next month’s headliner on January 31, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York.