That perspective is a big problem, because Stevenson could have sat tight. In theory, he could have forced the negotiations to come to him. Instead, he makes a conscious choice to meet the opponent where they are strongest, right in the section where Teo already holds the keys.
“He’s the guy at 140. So, I can’t have him come up to my weight class. I have to go up to his weight class,” Stevenson said.
This is not a case of Stevenson playing it safe. He could have stayed and forced the world to come to him, but he chose to meet Lopez on his home turf. With Lopez not moving back down to 135 after years away from the weight, Shakur realized he had to be the one to make the move.
Of course, the massive payday helps. Moving up to face a bigger, more dangerous puncher like Lopez is a risk, and the millions on the table certainly make that risk more worth it. Without that upside, a move against a guy with Teo’s power might not have happened.
When Teofimo started clamoring to leave Stevenson on his chair, Shakur didn’t get emotional about it. Instead of firing back with his own wild predictions, he analyzed the psychology behind the talk.
“I think his ego is just kicking in there,” Stevenson said, responding to Lopez predicting a stoppage and claiming Stevenson will either stop on his chair or get knocked out. “He tries to trick his mind into believing the things he says.”
Even the “stop on the chair” trash talk from Teo didn’t seem to him. Instead of getting angry, Shakur almost sounded like Lopez was talking like that. He leans into the role of the guy who underestimates people until they’re caught in the ring with him.
“When he says I’m slow, we both know, and we all know, when he fights big, slow guys like Josh Taylor and Arnold Barboza, that’s where he attacks and feels more comfortable because he has a speed advantage,” Stevenson said. “But when he fights someone who is smaller and faster and guys who are not even that good, like Kambosos, he has trouble.”
Stevenson is counting on his speed and control to be factors in defeating Lopez. If his reading is correct, Teo will be out of his league on Saturday.
“When a guy loses to George Kambosos, I wouldn’t lose to him in a million years,” Stevenson said. “On my worst night, I won’t let George Kambosos come out victorious against me. That’s my reaction to that. Let’s see if I’m slow on fight night.”
Stevenson points directly to Teo’s biggest career failure, saying he’s just a different kind of athlete.
Yet, by saying this, Shakur is putting his own neck on the line. If he has a bad night and Teo steamrollers him, he’s never going to live up to those words. But he doesn’t seem to mind. He simplified the whole fight: Teo can’t handle speed, Shakur is the king of speed, and he dares Lopez to do something about it.
“I enjoy it because that’s when guys underestimate me,” Stevenson said when asked about Lopez predicting he would quit. “They don’t understand what they’re up against in the ring. When you get in there, though, you realize things are a lot different than when you looked at them.”
There’s Stevenson warning everyone that film study is a total lie, and he’s convinced that Teo is studying a version of him that won’t even appear. He’s betting that the second the bell rings, the sheer speed and the meandering reactions will hit Lopez like a massive reality check he never saw coming.
The Ring 6 card featuring Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson takes place on Saturday, January 31, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event will air on DAZN pay-per-view in the United States, priced at $69.99.
