Teofimo Lopez has sent a brutal warning to Shakur Stevenson ahead of their clash next Saturday.
Lopez and Stevenson will meet at super lightweight live from Madison Square Garden, New York on January 31st.
‘The Takeover’ spoke to DAZN Boxing and revealed all on his thoughts on Stevenson.
Lopez looks to defend his WBO super lightweight world title at the end of the month.
He touched on the dynamic between the pair over the years, especially during a period they were both promoted by Top Rank.
“We were stablemates me and Shakur at Top Rank.
“He talked about this and that and how I was jealous of him.
“No you was a 2016 USA silver medallist, you were always going to get your signing bonus and all of that extra stuff.”
Lopez admitted he felt that he and Stevenson have been on a collision course to face each other for the past few years.
“The thing was they were trying to secure him in a different route whereas for me I think I was just supposed to be an opponent eventually.
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“Now we are back and this plan is against me absolutely.”
‘The Takeover’ comes into the fight against Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) with just one loss against George Kambosos Jr in late 2021.
Stevenson steps up to super lightweight for the first time in his career and Lopez believes Stevenson has almost been forced to move up with a lack of competition at a more natural weight class below.
“Shakur is stepping up because he has got nobody else to go after.
“He is stepping up to prove a point you know his big bro AKA Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford put in a huge upset and made a historic moment in time for the sport of boxing by beating Canelo Alvarez.
“I think it is things like that that make Shakur want to step up to the plate, step up to the challenge and face Teofimo.”
Olympic medallist, Stevenson has looked practically punch perfect throughout his career to date but Lopez revealed he has in fact spotted some flaws in the 28-year-old and it is his job to expose them on the 31st.
“My job is to show the true flaws that they cannot see, that the world cannot see.
“My job is to show the world that nobody can beat me and I’m going to make it look pretty.”
Lopez comes off a shutout win against Arnold Barboza Jr back in May last year.
He completely outclassed the challenger over 12 rounds.
Stevenson also comes off an impressive win against William Zepeda, also winning a unanimous decision after a beatdown over 12 rounds
he believes Stevenson’s game plan going into the contest will likely go out of the window on the night.
Lopez made a very clear prediction for how he sees the fight going, he is envisaging a brutal knockout and plans to deal Stevenson the first loss of his career.
“I’m going to make it much prettier when I see him laid out flat.
“Everyone has a game plan but like Mike Tyson once said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
