Shakur Stevenson already has his next opponent picked out after his mini mega-fight against Teofimo Lopez in early 2026. Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) says after he beats Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs), he’s going to fight “Lamont Roach.”
WBC lightweight champion Shakur will bypass defending his title against one of the contenders in the division in favor of making a defense against super featherweight Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs). Stevenson’s last defense of his WBC title was against William Zepeda on July 12, 2025.
Lopez Fight First, Andy Cruz Fight Never?
Stevenson, 28, doesn’t say why he prefers to fight Roach, who is a technical fighter with no power. It may not matter. Fighting Roach will make life easier for Shakur because it will give him an excuse to delay the inevitable fight against the #1 WBC contender, Andy Cruz, or one of the other contenders at 135.
A Champion Dodging His Own Division
The worst kind of lightweight champion you can have is one that swerves the contenders and chooses to fight opposition outside of the weight class. It’s not fair. If Shakur fights Roach, it’ll have been the second consecutive bout against a non-lightweight, assuming the clash against Teofimo Lopez happens next year.
“That’s the fight I want. There’s no other fight around that is going to be a bigger fight than me vs. Teo,” said Shakur Stevenson to Ring Champs about Teofimo Lopez being the guy he’s after. “I don’t mind going up to 140 for him. I think the fight is going to happen.”
A two-part financial strategy
Of course, Stevenson doesn’t mind. The fight against Teofimo works in two ways:
- It allows Shakur to avoid Andy Cruz: Fighting Lopez is significantly better than facing the 2020 Olympic gold medalist Cruz and potentially losing badly.
- The purse will be big: Shakur could get a raise from the $7 million that he made in his last fight against Zepeda.
“Lamont Roach was the one I was trying to fight. We’re going to fight after I beat Teo,” said Stevenson, revealing his plans for after the Teofimo fight.
What Stevenson should be doing is planning his rebuilding plan in case he loses to Teofimo, because there’s a very real possibility he’ll get beaten.
Obviously, Shakur can return to the lightweight title and continue defending his WBC title. But he’s going to look silly defending it against Roach while coming off a loss to Lopez.
Don’t be surprised if Teofimo exposes Shakur by beating him badly, worse than the defensive artist Arnold Barboza Jr., on May 2, 2025. Lopez can do all the same things Shakur can, but with a lot more power. He’s got the three-foot step-back style and can move around the ring just like him. What Teofimo said apart is that he has knockout power in either hand. So, when he lands on Shakur, he’ll do damage.
Stevenson’s Matchmaking Safety Net Exposed
Stevenson has gotten this far in the 135-lb division due to the matchmaking that’s been done for him by his former promoters at Top Rank and Matchroom. He hasn’t faced any of the upper-grade contenders since moving up to lightweight in 2023. Shakur owes much of his success to his promoters, who chose to match him against these guys rather than any of the apex lightweights in the division:
- Josh Padley
- Artem Harutyunyan
- William Zepeda
- Shuichiro Yoshino
- Edwin De Los Santos
Last Updated on 09/24/2025
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