Coach Buddy McGirt argues that Shakur Stevenson can’t rely on his usual potshot style of fighting when he goes up against Teofimo Lopez in their planned match in early 2026.
Why Volume Punching Is Essential
Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) is also a potshot fighter, but he’s a bigger puncher. He also doesn’t have brittle hands like the Newark, New Jersey native Shakur (24-0, 11 KOs). If their fight involves a tactical potshot battle, Lopez will be victorious because Stevenson’s weaker shots won’t impress the judges.
McGirt says that for Shakur to outpoint WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo, he’s going to need to focus on volume punching.
The fundamental problem is that Stevenson has never had a high output as an amateur or a pro. He’s from the Floyd Mayweather Jr. potshot mold of fighting, and it could be next to impossible for Shakur to change his style at 28 after all these years of using that approach.
“Shakur’s got to throw more punches and control the tempo of the fight. He can’t just rely on potshots and expect to win every round clearly against someone like Teofimo,” said trainer Buddy McGirt to MillCity Boxing about Shakur Stevenson needing to increase his punch output to defeat Teofimo Lopez in 2026.
Can Stevenson Change His DNA?
Throwing one shot at a time is now in Stevenson’s DNA. If Shakur attempts to veer away from that style against the far more powerful Teofimo, he could get knocked out. It would break Stevenson as a fighter to change what’s in his mental code.
We saw what happened to Shakur when he stood and fought William Zepeda in their fight on July 12, 2025, in Queens, New York. Zepeda worked him over on the ropes, landing countless shots.
What was interesting about that fight, besides the strange scoring in favor of Shakur that didn’t match the actual contest, was how Zepeda appeared to drop him in the third round. Not only did the referee fail to rule it a knockdown, but the judges gave Shakur the round. Zepeda had worked Stevenson over the entire round, riddling him with machine gun-type shots, only to have the round scored against him
William Zepeda robbed of knockdown – Ropes held Shakur Stevenson up pic.twitter.com/2X58Cnbutw
— El Guru (@FYMTommyGuru) September 29, 2025
“If Shakur wants to show he’s the best, he’s got to step up the volume, close those rounds strong. He’s got the skills, but he’s gotta let his hands go more to make it undeniable,” said McGirt.
Nation Vegas’ Take: Shakur’s Potshot Habit Will Bury Him
Shakur is physically and mentally incapable of stepping up the volume without getting cleaned out by Teofimo and left in the dirt. It would be suicide for Stevenson to use volume against Teo. That style is a dead end for Shakur, and they’d be picking up the broken pieces of him if he attempted to use it.
If Buddy were in his corner, ordering him to charge into no man’s land to confront Lopez on open ground, he’s going to get ripped apart by the powerful Brooklyn, New York native. Stevenson showed against Zepeda that he doesn’t have the chin to take a hard headshot when he’s not hunkered down, hiding his head like an ostrich.
Shakur is lucky McGirt isn’t his trainer because he’d get him knocked out if he pushed him to go on the attack, using volume against Lopez. The only way Stevenson can fight Teo is to use the same running approach that he’d utilized to win a questionable 12-round unanimous decision against Edwin De Los Santos on November 16, 2023.
Written by Nation Vegas, a Boxing Analyst covering world title fights since 2013.
Last Updated on 09/30/2025
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