Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson are about to clash in the most eagerly-anticipated fight of 2026 so far.
Lopez defends his WBO super lightweight world title against American rival, Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Lopez has blown hot and cold throughout his 23-fight career, but seems to step-up to the plate when the stakes are at their highest.
‘The Takeover’ has standout wins over Vasiliy Lomachenko and Josh Taylor and put on a masterful display to overcome Arnold Barboza Jr at Times Square last May.
The 28-year-old though has looked below par at times, particularly against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, where he seemed fortunate to prevail unscathed.
A performance resembling anywhere near that will surely not be enough to defeat Stevenson, who like Lopez is considered as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.
The Newark challenger is moving up in weight in a bid to become a four-weight world champion and is undefeated in 24 professional fights.
The 28-year-old southpaw dispelled criticisms over a perceived cautious style in an entertaining points display to defeat William Zepeda on points in New York in July and retain his WBC lightweight title.
Stevenson has not fought any higher than 135 pounds and questions remain over how he will adjust to his new weight class, but he is a strong favourite to hand Lopez a second professional defeat.
Lopez vs Stevenson – Date, Venue, Start Time and Ring Walks
- Lopez and Stevenson will fight on Saturday 31st January at Madison Square Garden in New York.
- Undercard bouts are set to commence at 6pm local time (ET) / 3pm PT / 11pm GMT / 10am AEST (Sunday)
- Main event ring walks are expected to be around 10:45pm local time (ET) / 7:45pm PT / 3:45am GMT (Sunday) / 1:45pm AEST (Sunday)
Lopez vs Stevenson – How To Watch It
- Lopez vs Stevenson will be aired live worldwide on DAZN pay-per-view.
Lopez vs Stevenson – Last Three Fights
Teofimo Lopez
- Teofimo Lopez bt Arnold Barboza Jr – UD
- Teofimo Lopez bt Steve Claggett – UD
- Teofimo Lopez bt Jamaine Ortiz – UD
Shakur Stevenson
- Shakur Stevenson bt William Zepeda – UD
- Shakur Stevenson bt Josh Padley – 9th round TKO
- Shakur Stevenson bt Artem Harutyunyan – UD
Lopez vs Stevenson – Undercard
- Carlos Adames vs Austin Williams – WBC middleweight world title
- Keyshawn Davis vs Jamaine Ortiz – super lightweight
- Bruce Carrington vs Carlos Castro – vacant WBC featherweight world title
- Jarrell Miller vs Kingsley Ibeh – heavyweight
- Ziyad Almaayouf vs Kevin Castillo – super lightweight
Lopez vs Stevenson – What Has Been Said?
“My job is to show the true flaws [in Stevenson],” Lopez told DAZN.
“That they can’t see, that the world cannot see.
“My job is to show the world that nobody can beat me, and I make it look pretty.
“It’s going to be much prettier when I see him laid out flat.”
“The best version of me can’t be beat my none of these fighters,” Stevenson told DAZN.
“He keeps going up there and saying I’m slow.
“When he realises that I’m a lot faster than what he was expecting, that’s going to throw him off a lot.
“He’s a very good fighter, but I do see a lot of weaknesses.”
Betting Odds And What They Tell Us
As anticipation builds towards Saturday’s showdown, bookmakers have instilled Stevenson as a 10/37 favourite, while Lopez is a 27/10 underdog to retain his title.
