Teofimo Lopez’s, Shakur Stevenson And Ryan Garcia’s Next Moves

Teofimo Lopez Sr. has outlined his own wishes for his son, Teofimo Lopez Jr, moving forward. 

Lopez’s last fight was a unanimous-decision win over Josh Taylor. And in doing so, Lopez became a two-weight and two-time lineal champion to pick up the WBO junior-welterweight belt.

While that may have been the case, Lopez announced his shock retirement from the sport only to then come out of retirement. And now that this has been confirmed, Lopez Sr. wants the biggest names. 

“A big-money fight would be [Ryan] Garcia, so we’re trying to get that fight with Oscar [De La Hoya Golden Boy Promotions]. We’ve been in talks with them. A reality fight that I think could be made is against Prograis because Prograis is the type of fighter that will fight anybody.

“With the [Ryan] Garcia, with the Devin, with all those guys, it’s probably very difficult. “I think that the fight that could be made easy is against Prograis, but we are looking for the top fights. We’re looking for the Devin Haney fights. Not Shakur because Shakur just got in the 135, but we’re looking for the top dudes, like Tank; anybody can get it,” Lopez Sr.

Lopez’s Star Power

Those comments were understandable since Lopez made it clear that he would only return to the sport if he secured a nine-figure payday.

A fight with Garcia would certainly achieve that. Garcia’s last fight was a loss to Gervonta Davis.

Although that may have been the case, the pay-per-view reportedly did over 1.2 million buys.

And in the process of doing so, Garcia made $30 million despite coming out second best.

And given that Lopez has a belt, Lopez Sr. was confident that a mega fight would get made. His following comments confirmed as much: 

“Listen, the biggest fight to be made is with Teofimo Lopez right now. My son is really hot right now. Everybody wants to see him fight again. Why would you go for Prograis when you could beat the top dog like we did? We went straight to the top dog [Josh Taylor],” Lopez Sr

Ryan Garcia

But any chances of it being Garcia next could be over. The boxer recently admitted that he was targeting a fight with the WBA 140 pound champion Rolando Romero.

The latter won his title with a controversial-stoppage win over Ismael Barroso. The majority of the boxing community felt that the stoppage was too early, as Barroso kept firing back while he was on the ropes.

However, following Garcia’s recent move to 140, Rolly is seen as an opponent that is beatable.

“I’m ready to get at it at 140. Bring on Rollies. He’s part of PBC. I already ran it once, didn’t get my get-back. But I’m gonna beat Rolly’s ass. We’re gonna have that, at 140,” Garcia

The chance also potentially offers Garcia the opportunity to see his progress with Derrick James.

This will be their first fight together at junior welterweight, as Garcia must adapt his game to reach a new level.

James is known for working on boxing fundamentals, which is why his appointment is seen as key to Garcia improving.

After all, Garcia’s lack of fundamentals was exposed against Davis. After his left hook failed to be effective, Davis took control and landed a devastating body shot to win. 

“I just prayed to God, see where he was guiding me. It just led me to Dallas, it led me to Derrick. I pursued it. I’m here now and I feel good.

“It’s like a family. We’re bonding. I’m hungry, that’s why I’m here training. I’m happy to be part of the team. I’m improving, getting better,” Garcia

One other fighter who could be set for a major fight is Shakur Stevenson. The American made an electric debut in the 135 lb division with sixth-round-stoppage win over Shuichiro Yoshin.

Since that moment, attempts have been made to get Shakur in the ring with Devin Haney.

So much so that the WBC mandatory has even petitioned the WBO to make him mandatory in that regard. Regardless of whether Stevenson does fight Haney, the star is in line for a big fight. 

“Shakur is going to fight later this year in a major fight. Maybe it’ll be against Haney, maybe it’ll be against [Vasiliy] Lomachenko. I don’t know, but the fight’s going to happen.

“Formula 1 will be on that weekend, and people come in really early to see them practice. So there will be thousands of people in town. We put on a good fight on, we’ll sell it out,” Arum

All three fighters are at a crossroads when it comes to their careers. But if they can make the right moves and back that up with spectacular performances, then their stock will only rise. Time will tell how their respective careers end up doing.