Teofimo Lopez Teases a Fight Against Shakur Stevenson, Mocks Him with Old Olympic Photo

A dancing Teofimo Lopez posted today on X, referencing a “Spike vs. Tom” cartoon, showing a crying Shakur Stevenson in a hint that the two will fight in early 2026.

WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) used his advertising slogan, “Let’s make boxing great again,” in today’s post on X, which is the same line that Shakur had repeated in his initial callout of Lopez on social media on July 25. That was when Stevenson began his campaign for the Lopez fight.

The Crying Shakur Meme

The picture Lopez used in his post today is of Shakur crying from his loss to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in the finals of the 2016 Olympics on August 20th of that year. Shakur cried without tears when interviewed post-fight. The picture of Stevenson crying has been turned into a meme on X by some users.

More like Spike Vs Tom 👊💢 pic.twitter.com/xwF4M8JICE

— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) August 28, 2025

A Fight for 2026?

Lopez views himself as “Spike” the bulldog and Shakur (24-0, 11 KOs) as the cat, “Tom,” that he’s going to beat up. At least Teofimo didn’t use the ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoon reference in today’s hint for his fight against Stevenson. Fans don’t want to see that type of fight. They want to be entertained for their money, particularly if this clash is going to be shown on DAZN PPV.

Shakur’s fights against Edwin De Los Santos, Jeremiah Nakathilia, Artem Harutyunyan, and Josh Padley were criticized by fans as being dull due to the hit-and-not-get-hit style Stevenson uses. While that fighting approach resonates with a segment of the fan base, large portions find the style uninteresting to watch.

Stevenson’s last fight against WBC interim lightweight champion William Zepeda, on July 12, 2025, in Queens, New York, has seemingly shifted his focus from pursuing a mega-fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis to targeting Teofimo at 140. Shakur has shown no interest in fighting the top lightweights in his weight class, Andy Cruz, Abdullah Mason, Floyd Schofield, or Raymond Muratalla.