‘A Little Coo Coo’ — Roach Questions Teofimo’s Focus Jan31

Lamont Roach says Teofimo Lopez suffers “mental lapses” during fights, and he’s struggled against “pure boxers.”

Roach states that Lopez’s erratic performances are one of the reasons he’s picking Shakur Stevenson to defeat him on January 31st in their headliner on DAZN.

Lamont believes that it won’t be a “super tough fight” for Shakur (24-0, 11 KOs) to defeat WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs). Stevenson dominating him the way he did his recent opponents, Josh Padley and Artem Harutyunyan, would be embarrassing.

Pure Boxers: Lopez’s Kryptonite

“He’s hit or miss. He’s a little coo coo. He has little mental lapses every once in a while,” said Lamont Roach to Ring Champs podcast, picking Shakur Stevenson over a non-mentally engaged Teofimo Lopez. I think Shakur wins, and I don’t think it’s going to be a super tough fight either. His IQ will frustrate him.”

That’s hard to believe, given the problems Stevenson had against William Zepeda last July and in his bout against Edwin De Los Santos in 2023. Those are the only two quality fighters Stevenson has faced over the past three years, since 2022.

If Stevenson Stands Still — Risky

It’s still not going to be easy for Shakur if he stands in the pocket against Teofimo as he did against Zepeda, Josh Padley, and Artem Harutyunyan. He’s going to get hit if he chooses to be stationary.

Shakur’s mobility isn’t good enough to keep Teofimo from cutting off the ring and forcing him into exchanges. We saw him do that in his fight against Jamaine Ortiz in February 2024. He’s a better mover than Shakur, with superior hand speed and power. Teofimo got to him repeatedly and forced him into exchanges.

Jamaine had the hand speed and combination punching to fight Lopez off. Stevenson can’t do that because he’s not a combination puncher and has no power.

Sandor Martin & Kambosos Flashbacks

“When you look at Teo’s performances against guys that are pure boxers, it’s just like [hit or miss]. He almost lost to Sandor Martin. Some people thought he lost to Sandor Martin. Look at the Kambosos fight. That’s a fight that people would never expect Kambosos to win, and he won a grueling match against him as well,” said Roach.

Stevenson would never have fought the way Kambosos did against Teofimo by trading power shots. He’s not that type of fighter. The southpaw Sandor Martin was able to catch Lopez with sneaky right hooks that he failed to see. He had a way of throwing them that was difficult for Lopez to predict.