At the start of the opening round, Teofimo Lopez was on the front foot, while Shakur Stevenson set up shop on the back foot. Lopez tried to settle the jab, but his effort was ineffective.
Within the final minute of the opening round, Stevenson connected with a sharp left hand. Throughout the second round, Lopez returned the favor by landing a nice counter right.
Southpaw Shakur Stevenson looked extremely comfortable in the third round as he determined the range and distance. Shakur’s sharp jab and straight left hand were his weapons of choice.
Lopez started the fourth round on the front foot and tried to attack the body of Stevenson. As Teofimo made an attempt to come in, Shakur landed a shot to the body, almost causing Teofimo’s glove to touch the canvas.
As the fight reached its midpoint, Teofimo Lopez struggled to get anything meaningful going. Every time Lopez tried to come inside, he was countered by a sharp Stevenson jab.
In the seventh round of the fight, Stevenson was in complete control as he set the range, stood in the pocket and consistently landed his offense. Meanwhile, his opponent, Teofimo Lopez, looked confused and ready to check out.
For the duration of the fight, the action remained one-sided. Shakur completely outwitted his bloodied and battered opponent. Shakur looked faster, stronger and more skilled.
Over the course of 12 rounds of boxing, Stevenson put on a master class type performance. At the end of the match, all three judges scored the match (119-109) in favor of Stevenson.
With the win, Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) won the Ring Magazine and WBO super-lightweight world titles. After the spectacular performance, the question became how far does Shakur go on the pound-for-pound list?
Back in 2005, Floyd Mayweather Jr. the two-division world champion Arturo Gatti dominates. After that career-defining fight, Mayweather continued to elevate his status from star to megastar.
On Saturday night, Shakur Stevenson knocked out two-division world champion Teofimo Lopez. During the post-fight press conference, Shakur was asked about the decision win against Teofimo. Was this his defining moment?
“Yeah, for sure, for sure. I think it was the moment,” Shakur said. “It was two young fighters in there. It wasn’t an old washed-up guy. It was a 28-year-old fighter, I’m 28 myself, and Teo is actually younger than me. For me to go up another weight class and beat him and take his belt was a huge thing tonight.”
