Shakur Stevenson Is ‘Afraid to Get Hit,’ Says Teofimo Lopez

Teofimo Lopez says his past sparring with Shakur Stevenson showed him everything he needed to know. He saw a “scared” fighter who was “afraid to get hit.” 

Three Rounds Told Teo Everything

What WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) learned from the three rounds of working with Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) is one of the reasons why he agreed to fight him on January 31st. He sees Shakur as being vulnerable once you get past his jab.

Fans saw that weakness in Stevenson’s last fight when William Zepeda hurt him with a right hand in the third round of their bout on July 12, 2025. He collapsed into the ropes, looking like he’d been shot by a silver bullet. Shakur was definitely held up by the ropes.

The referee, Ricky Gonzalez, gave him a huge break by not calling it a knockdown, but it clearly was. That punch was one of the few that Zepeda, a non-puncher, landed to Shakur’s head. He has nowhere near the power that Teofimo Lopez possesses.

“Shakur is scared to get hit. Once you pass his jab, he’s food. He’s scared to get knocked down in front of the world. He’s afraid to get touched up in front of the world,” said Teofimo Lopez to Cigar Talk about Shakur Stevenson.

What Teo didn’t say is that Shakur’s biggest fear is getting hit upstairs, but he’s more willing to absorb bodyshots. He took a whole bunch of them in the Zepeda fight. In round four, I counted 40 body shots that Zepeda landed, and that was a typical round.

Stevenson took an enormous amount of shots downstairs, but still kept his guard up around his head. That showed that his far is getting hit to the head, and it’s understandable why. Zepeda had him in trouble in the third.

Lopez Smells Vulnerability On Jan 31

Lopez and Stevenson are meeting today for their kickoff press conference in New York. It’s the start of the promotion of next month’s headliner on January 31, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York.