2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson, a native of Newark, New Jersey, entered the pro ranks in 2017. Much hype surrounded Stevenson, and nine years into his professional career, Shakur exceeded all expectations.
The undefeated Shakur Stevenson is an elite boxer who has all the tools. Stevenson has the high level ring IQ, superior defense, an educated jab, speed, footwork and excellent jab placement.
During his tenure in the fighting game, Shakur experienced a lot of success, but he received some constructive criticism from casual fans. Some of the comfortable people label Shakur’s hit but don’t get hit style of boxing as boring.
The casuals also consider Shakur’s style a form of running. In his most recent ring appearance, Stevenson impressed die-hards and casual fans alike when he stepped inside the squared circle to take on William Zepeda.
Over the course of the fight, high-volume puncher William Zepeda set the pace. Shakur Stevenson didn’t back down as he continued to stand in the pocket and engage in a crowd-pleasing firefight.
With 28 seconds left to go in the third round, William Zepeda rocked Shakur Stevenson when he landed a hard right hand. For the rest of the fight, Stevenson was defensively responsible, and on the offensive side he landed sharp counter punches all the time.
At the end of the entertaining 12-round contest, Stevenson was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Now, 28-year-old Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) is scheduled to face the biggest challenge of his professional career.
28-year-old Teofimo Lopez is a two-weight world champion who is skilled and very athletic. Despite his immense talent, Lopez is the perfect candidate in regards to Stevenson having his Mayweather moment.
Back in June 2005, Floyd Mayweather Jr. set to fight two-weight world champion Arturo Gatti. Mayweather put on a master class when he thoroughly outboxed Gatti and stopped him in the sixth round.
The win over Gatti helped catapult Mayweather from star to megastar. Fast forward to today, and three-division world champion Shakur Stevenson is in the same position Mayweather was in 21 years ago.
On Saturday night, Stevenson has the opportunity to dominate against a familiar opponent and make the transition from star to megastar. Similar to the Mayweather vs. Gatti matchup, the Lopez vs. Stevenson matchup has a significant skill gap.
Another similarity is the fact that Teofimo makes a lot of mistakes, and similar to Mayweather, Shakur is a ring technician who will capitalize on every mistake his opponent makes.
Teofimo’s major faults are his habit of telegraphing his shots, his low lead hand and his tendency to constantly overcommit. If Teofimo makes these mistakes on Saturday night, Shakur will have the chance to dominate and create his Mayweather transition moment.
