Lopez & Stevenson Must Sell Their Fight At Wednesday Presser

Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson will hold a press conference on Wednesday, December 10th, in New York.

The press conference will discuss their ‘super fight’ on ‘The Ring 6’ event on January 31, 2026, at MSG in New York City.

A ‘Super Fight’ Fans Aren’t Sold On

Many boxing fans view the Lopez-Stevenson fight as a poor matchup between two East Coast boxers with junky styles. The fight could turn out to be another underwhelming one. It’s the wrong matchup to be an interesting one for fans outside the New York/New Jersey area.

Fans in Texas, California, and Nevada prefer to watch fighters who bring action. Lopez and Stevenson are just boxers who focus on the hit-and-not-get-hit style of fighting.

The consensus is that it will be a boring chess match between two millionaire boxers, who lack the exciting styles of the lesser-known but far more interesting fighters to watch. Putting two underwhelming boxers in with each other is a bad idea.

Turki Alalshikh would have been better off matching Teofimo against the WBA light welterweight champion, Gary Antuanne Russell. He’s a slugger who would be hunting Teo down and forcing him to run or fight. My guess is he’d run.

A fighter like Shakur needs to be matched up with a similar aggressive fighter, like Subriel Matias, Abdullah Mason, or Floyd Schofield, to make it interesting for fans to watch.

Teo’s Decline at 140 lbs

WBO light welterweight champion Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) used to be an entertaining slugger when he fought in the 135-lb division earlier in his career.

Since he moved up to 140 in 2021, he’s adopted a junk fighting style, involving movement, potshots, and a lot of clowning. His punching power didn’t carry up to this division. What made Lopez so good at lightweight was his size advantage over his opposition. When he was the bigger guy, he bullied the smaller fighters at 135. But when he finally moved up to where he should have been from the get-go, he hasn’t been the same.

Teofimo Lopez has struggled in fights against Jamaine Ortiz, Sandor Martin, and Steve Claggett. Those contests showed he’s not among the best at 140 and that he needs his promoters to protect him from losing.

Turki Alalshikh will be counting on the personalities and trash talk during the buildup. That may be true, but there will be a lot of angry fans if this fight underperforms like Teofimo’s last one against Arnold Barboza Jr. on May 2, and virtually all 24 of Shakur’s fights as a pro.

Teo and Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) have to create interest for the DAZN event, which is expected to be on PPV. It’s not ideal. Of the two, Lopez has greater potential to generate buzz at Wednesday’s press conference because he has prepared. He generates ideas in advance.