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Shakur Stevenson selects Teofimo Lopez for ‘safer’ strap grab

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Image: Insiders Claim Shakur Stevenson Saw Vulnerability in Teofimo Lopez and Chose Him Over Subriel Matias for a Safer ‘Superstar’ Belt Grab

Trainer Bernie Davis says the reason Shakur Stevenson chose Teofimo Lopez over 140-year-old Subriel Matias to fight for the belt is because he wants to fight a “superstar.” He rates Lopez (22-1, 13 KO) as someone who fits the “superstar” label.

(Source: Golden Boy)

Did Shakur play it secure at 140 pounds?

Insiders suspect Shakur (24-0, 11 KO) saw an obvious weakness in Teofimo’s game, noting his loss to George Kambosos and his controversial 140 wins over Sandor Martin and Jamain Ortiz.

Some fans consider Teo to be the weakest of the welterweight champions. They believe Shakur was calculated to be chosen over Matias, Gary Antuanne Russell and Richardson Hitchins.

“Shakur wants the best fights. He is a marksman and a defensive wizard. Can you solve this puzzle?” said coach Bernie Davies MillCity Boxing about Shakur Stevenson. “This guy is unbeatable.”

If Stevenson wants the best fighters, why did he decide not to fight Andy Cruz, Ernesto Mercado, Raymond Muratalla, Abdullah Mason or postpone the fight with Floyd Schofield? Shakur’s resume is average.

Hailing from Newark, Modern Jersey, Stevenson is certainly not unbeatable. We saw in his last fight against William Zepeda and his match against Edwin De Los Santos that he is beatable. Many fans made him lose to both fighters. He escaped De Los Santos and was booed from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with his 12-round unanimous decision in November 2023.

The “Superstar” illusion at the age of 140

“Matias has already had a fight. Teofimo, they joined in. They’re newborn guys,” Bernie said when asked why Shakur wasn’t targeting WBA welterweight champion Subriel Matias and not Teofimo at 140. “These are newborn superstars. It’s a superstar fight. Shakur wants to fight the star.”

If Shakur wants a superstar to artificially judge him, he’s picking the wrong fighter because Teofimo isn’t up to the standard to be called one. Matias did lose to Liam Paro, but he should have won the fight if the referee had penalized the Australian for constantly pushing, holding and rabbit punching. Paro used all three tactics to neutralize Matias’ attack, and the referee didn’t even lift a finger to deduct points from him.

“He just beat Zepeda. He is [Stevenson] superstar. I need a fight with the stars. Teofimo also holds the Ring Magazine Champion title. He also has a great win over Lomachenko. He has a great win over Josh Taylor. So it’s a star fight. Subriel Matias is not a superstar,” Bernie said.

A better explanation, perhaps the real reason Shakur chose Teofimo over Matias, is that it’s an easier fight to win. Lopez has struggled since moving up to 140 pounds in 2022, and his career has only been spared from hitting rock bottom thanks to promoters Top Rank, who have supported him through careful selection of players.

“General population” test.

If they put Teofimo in jail general publicit would explode and be ready for the trash. Fighters who so far weighed 140 inches would have sunk Lopez’s career

  • Gary Antuanne Russell
  • Richardson Hitchins
  • Ernesto Mercado
  • Keyshawn Davis
  • Subriel Mathias
  • Albert Puello

Shakur would likely lose to all or most of these fighters. He doesn’t have the power to deal with these types of players and could barely handle William Zepeda. He doesn’t have the physical tools to beat top fighters at 140 or 135 pounds.

Indeed, Matias is not a superstar, but Berbie using that as a reason for choosing Shakur sounds 100% disingenuous or at least naive. Teofimo isn’t a superstar either. This is the fighter who lost to George Kambosos Jr. and deserved to lose the fight against Jamaine Ortiz on February 8, 2024.

The judges handed Lopez a unanimous decision after nearly 12 rounds, but many boxing fans saw it as a blatant robbery in which the A-side fighter prevailed over a lesser-known, less attractive guy.

Last update: 16/10/2025

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Sebastian Fundora Wins by Late Stoppage Against Ermal Hadribeaj

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"Sebastian Fundora Wins by Late Stoppage Against Ermal Hadribeaj"

Sebastian Fundora needed almost every second of 12 rounds to stop Ermal Hadribeaj, finishing his stubborn challenger with a left hand after spending much of the fight battling him at close range.

The stoppage came at 2:59 of the final round at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs) retained his WBC junior middleweight title for the fourth time, while Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs) suffered his first professional defeat.

This was hard work for a champion who entered as a heavy favorite. Hadribeaj got underneath Fundora’s long arms, crowded him, and landed hard punches, making the early rounds competitive. Fundora followed him too often without creating the space needed to make his reach effective.

A long left briefly buzzed Hadribeaj in the second, but it didn’t persuade him to stay outside. He recovered and went straight back to forcing the fight inside.

Holding became a recurring feature. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Hadribeaj in the third round, then took another in the 11th as the challenger increasingly tried to prevent Fundora from working.

Between those penalties, Hadribeaj gave the champion plenty to handle. His harder individual shots competed with Fundora’s greater activity, and he continued coming forward even as the body punches accumulated.

Fundora eventually made that close-range fight work for him. Short punches and uppercuts gave him scoring opportunities, while his sustained attack downstairs made Hadribeaj pay for staying within reach.

The later rounds belonged more clearly to the champion. Hadribeaj could still land, but he was being outworked, and his attempts to crowd Fundora increasingly ended in holding rather than effective offense.

Fundora kept punching through the final round before landing the left hand that dropped and stopped Hadribeaj just before the bell. The finish rewarded his persistence, although the difficult early rounds showed how little he had done to keep the challenger at a distance.

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Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.

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Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj Live Results and Fight Updates

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"Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj Live Results and Fight Updates"

Sebastian Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs) stopped Ermal Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs) at 2:59 of the 12th round to retain his WBC junior middleweight title for the fourth time. Hadribeaj made the early rounds competitive by getting low, forcing his way inside and landing hard shots while denying the champion room to use his reach.

Short punches, uppercuts and a sustained body attack helped Fundora take control as he began outworking the challenger at close range. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted points from Hadribeaj for holding in the third and 11th rounds as the challenger increasingly tried to tie up the busier champion.

With just one second remaining, a left hand dropped Hadribeaj and brought the fight to an end after Fundora’s pressure and body punching had worn him down.

Super middleweight Armando Resendiz (17-3, 11 KOs) defeated Koen Mazoudier (16-5-1, 6 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision in a hard-fought fight. The judges scored it 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93, giving Resendiz a wider victory than the competitive action suggested.

Mazoudier kept coming forward and throwing, making Resendiz work at close range and enjoying success through the middle rounds. Resendiz answered with the heavier punches, hurting the Australian with right hands and left hooks as the two traded throughout.

A sustained attack in the final round left Mazoudier reeling and close to being stopped, but he survived and continued firing back until the bell. Resendiz earned his first victory since losing to Jaime Munguia, while Mazoudier made him fight for it in his U.S. debut.

Marco Romero (16-0, 14 KOs) stopped Braulio Matias Ferreira (8-4, 3 KOs) in the first round of their scheduled eight-round super middleweight fight. The 20-year-old Romero immediately pressed the attack, digging to the body and landing right hands upstairs at close range.

A right hand and left hook to the body helped set up a sweeping right to the chin that dropped Ferreira hard into the ropes. Ferreira beat the count, but he was in no condition to continue, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Romero gave the veteran little chance to settle, keeping him under attack throughout the brief contest. It was the Kansas prospect’s third consecutive first-round stoppage.

Super middleweight Jaime Enrique Osuna Diaz (12-0, 5 KOs) kept his unbeaten record with an eight-round majority decision over Cristian Cangelosi (13-1-1, 5 KOs). The judges scored the competitive bout 77-75, 77-75 and 76-76 on the Sebastian Fundora–Ermal Hadribeaj undercard.

Osuna applied pressure from the start, using his activity and body punching to make Cangelosi work. His best round came in the fifth, when he hurt Cangelosi twice with straight right hands but crowded his own punches while trying to finish.

Cangelosi fought back and had a strong seventh round, landing a big shot to keep the outcome in doubt heading into the eighth. Neither fighter scored a knockdown, with Osuna’s pressure and cleaner work in key stretches earning him the narrow victory.

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Tony Bellew Analyzes Daniel Dubois Knockout Victory Over Fabio Wardley in Rematch

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Tony Bellew Analyzes Daniel Dubois' Knockout Victory Over Fabio Wardley in Rematch

Daniel Dubois sent out a big statement to the rest of the heavyweight division after his knockout win over Fabio Wardley.

The two British heavyweights met at The O2 Arena on Saturday in one of the most anticipated rematches of the year, following on from their epic first battle back in May.

On that occasion, ‘DDD’ had to recover from two early knockdowns to earn the 11th round TKO win to become WBO heavyweight champion, but it was a much more dominant display from Dubois this time around.

The rematch saw ‘DDD’ drop Wardley inside the opening 20 seconds of the bout, before landing even more heavy shots over the next several minutes, forcing the referee to stop the action in the second round as Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight title.

Ahead of the bout, one man that was picking Wardley to cause the upset and be victorious was former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who felt that the Ipswich man was going to get the job done inside six rounds.

Bellew was happy to hold his hands up and admit he was wrong though, as he posted on social media to heap praise on Dubois for his triumph.

“Demolition! Well done to Daniel Dubois.”

Following his win, Dubois has already made it clear who he wants to target next, revealing in his post-fight interview that he wants to meet IBF champion Filip Hrgovic in a unification, in what would be a rematch after ‘DDD’ won their first encounter back in June 2024.

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