Teofimo And Shakur’s Explosive Face-Off – ‘Anything Dirty Will Be Reciprocated’
The 140-pound division is set for a showdown as Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson had their roundtable face off ahead of their January 31 fight.
Lopez will be defending his WBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight titles for the fourth time. The Brooklyn native enters the ring following a dominant unanimous decision win over Arnold Barboza Jr. in May 2025 at Times Square. Meanwhile, Stevenson is moving up to 140 pounds to pursue a world title in a fourth weight class. The Newark native is coming off a masterclass performance in July 2025, where he silenced critics by defeating the previously unbeaten William Zepeda. Here were the key moments from the face off.
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Teofimo
Credit: DAZN
“A lot of people didn’t give us the opportunity to show how great we is. A lot of the fighters I want to say either they ducked or found the business way not to get in front of me. And I feel like with him, he kind of gave me the opportunity of a lifetime now. Now it’s like, okay, you build your career up all this time, “Oh, I want to fight this guy, I want to fight this guy,” and then the moment comes and it’s like, damn, it’s here. It kind of turns you up like, “Okay, let’s go get it now.”
“Absolutely. Let him be what he believes he is. My job is to do what I need to do and become victorious. Defend my stuff. I’ve done it three times, and this is number four. This is number four for the Ring, this is number four for the WBO Super. So these are my goals: to defend my throne. It cannot be called “The Takeover” and have someone take it over.”
Shakur
Credit: DAZN
“Truthfully, I fight whatever style to win. Whatever style comes up that I’ve got to win a fight is what I’m going to do. So, I’m not worried about anything he’s talking about. I just hope they don’t expect that version of me. Expect a better version of me come fight night for sure. Anything dirty will be reciprocated, brother.
It’s hard to say without being in the ring with somebody. You never know how good somebody actually is until you get in the ring, or how bad they actually are until you get in the ring with them. So, come fight night, we’ll figure out whether he’s better than Zapeda or more of a challenge than Zapeda. I know Zapeda’s style.
I want people to know I’m the best. That’s my main objective. I’m here for the best versus the best. I called on Teofimo for this fight to happen because I wanted to prove myself and prove how great that I am. So come fight night, like I said, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure I come out victorious, but I want to prove how great I am. I want the world to see the greatness within my skill set, the boxer that I am. After we get out the ring, I want everybody to be talking about it like, “Yo, I’m that guy.”
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