On Saturday, January 31, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Shakur Stevenson produced a dominating performance in defeating Teofimo Lopez by unanimous decision. The domination on DAZN Pay-Per-View made Stevenson the new Ring Magazine and WBO super lightweight champion.
Victory also made Shakur a four-division world champion, and after the fight, Terence Crawford’s renowned trainer Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre spoke to Fight Hub TV, praising Shakur for his performance.
Shakur Stevenson defeats Lopez in New York City
Stevenson, as the reigning WBC lightweight champion, moved up in weight to challenge Lopez and produced a career-best performance, defeating Lopez by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 119-109 x3.
He settled really quickly and began working impressively off his jab, which only became more effective as the fight progressed. Lopez had his best round in the eighth, but Stevenson quickly regained control and ended the fight on top.
Stevenson boxed diligently throughout the fight and was too fast and accurate for Lopez.
‘Bomac’ praises Shakur Stevenson
Reflecting on Stevenson’s win over Lopez, “Bomac” said:
“A masterpiece, man. He just looked so smooth, calm and relaxed. That was beautiful. That was the one boxing lesson that you future guys, young guys in the amateurs, just turning pro, watch that. That was beautiful.
“You heard his (Lopez’s) father say in the corner, ‘What happened to your fast hands?’ That s**t didn’t work.”
When asked if there was any way Lopez could have put on a better performance, “Bomac” said: “No, I don’t think whatever he would have brought to the table would’ve worked. Shakur’s just got a great boxing mind. That’s just it. He’s got a great boxing mind, and once he puts his mind to it, he’s gonna get the job done.”
“Bomac” was then asked what it’s going to take to beat someone like Stevenson: “I don’t know, man. You probably wanna stay away from that kid.”
It remains to be seen what is next for Shakur Stevenson, but the boxing world really is his oyster. Could he go back to lightweight and target the other champions? Could he defend his new titles at super lightweight? Or could a big fight at welterweight tempt Stevenson to move up another division?
