Teofimo Lopez has weighed in with his prediction for a potential match-up between his former foe Vasily Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson.
IBF lightweight world champion Lomachenko – who Lopez scored a career-best win over back in 2019 – has been earmarked for a unification clash with WBC belt holder, Stevenson following the latter’s recent unanimous decision win over Artem Harutyunyan.
The pair actually clashed whilst sitting ringside at the Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles and had to be separated by security, leading hype to build for a prospective showdown in late 2024 or early 2025.
Lomachenko and Stevenson are regarded as amongst the most skilled fighters in the entire sport, let alone the 135 pound division, and a showdown between them would be a standout in the boxing calendar.
And in a recent interview with ESNews, Lopez revealed he’s siding with the man he shared the ring with, should the fight take place.
𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐑 & 𝐋𝐎𝐌𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 ⚠️@ShakurStevenson 😤 @VasylLomachenko #RiyadhSeasonCard | @DAZNBoxing | #CrawfordMadrimov pic.twitter.com/0SA9pPuHzg
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) August 4, 2024
“Loma beats Shakur? Yeah.”
In another segment with Cigar Talk, ‘The Takeover’ praised Stevenson’s talent, however claimed the Newark southpaw was fearful of taking shots in the ring
“Shakur is a very talented, skilful, technique fighter. Can’t take anything away from that. However, he’s scared to get hit.
“Scared to get knocked out in front of the world.
“Scared to get touched up in front of the world.”
Lopez is not the first observer to criticise Stevenson’s fighting style, with his recent showings against Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos coming under fire, with many feeling his approach in both outings was too cautious.
That said, the fact of the matter is the 26-year-old is already a three-weight world champion and has never come close to losing a fight, so is unlikely to change his style unless an opponent forces him to.
As enticing as a chess match Lomachenko and Stevenson would be, it is unlikely to be next.
‘Loma’ has claimed he is taking a sabbatical from the sport for the rest of the year, whilst talks are reportedly underway for Stevenson to take on William Zepeda on a Riyadh Season card.
