Teofimo Lopez says it will be easy for him to find sparring partners who can mimic Shakur Stevenson’s fighting style. He sees it as a case of bringing in fighters who “move around” a lot.
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Lopez mentions that they will have to stand their ground every now and then because Stevenson did that in the William Zepeda fight. WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) already fought a somewhat similar fighter to Stevenson in February 2024 when he defended. Jamaine Ortiz—use him as the sparring partner would be ideal since he does everything Shakur does.
Looking at that fight, Jamaine showed power, speed, combo punching and mobility. Ortiz’s physicality was more advanced than what we saw from Shakur, but he wasn’t as sound defensively. Part of the reason for that was that Jamaine took risks.
Teofimo defends against Shakur at Ring 6 on January 31, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event will be streamed on DAZN.
Teo explains his game plan
“All you really need is a guy who’s going to move around. And somebody who’s going to stay in the pocket, because we saw that with William Zepeda,” Teofimo Lopez told the media when asked if it would be difficult to find a sparring partner who could prepare him for Shakur Stevenson’s fighting style.
Lopez needs to find a fighter who uses the back step that Shakur uses. This is very common. What Stevenson does that is hard to imitate is he tilts his head back to avoid getting hit, and then fires back. He is an excellent counter puncher. When he has the reach advantage, he’s hard to reach because he stands on the outside and pokes all night.
“Sparring partners are just there to get you in the range and distance, and find that comfort zone of what to do in different moments of the fight,” Teofimo said. “But nobody is like Shakur Stevenson, and that’s what makes the fight even more exciting.”
Last updated on 12/11/2025
