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.
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Oleksandr Usyk has shared his reaction to Anthony Joshua‘s dramatic knockout victory against Kristian Prenga.
Usyk nearly suffered his own shock defeat in May when he was pushed to the limit by kickboxing star Rico Verhoevenand two months on it was nrw teammate Joshua’s turn to come close to a massive upset loss that would have stunned the heavyweight division.
The Brit was dropped twice by massive underdog Prenga in the opening round of their clash in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but ‘AJ’ managed to recover and record a big knockdown of his own in the second round that resulted in the stoppage victory.
Joshua and Usyk now train together, having famously had two battles for the unified world heavyweight title in 2021 and 2022, and the Ukrainian has had his say on his stablemate’s victory over Prenga.
Speaking to TalkSporttwo-time undisputed champion Usyk praised Joshua, insisting ‘AJ is back’ before predicting that Joshua will now claim a knockout win over long-term rival Tyson Fury in his next bout.
“Anthony Joshua is next undisputed champion. First round it’s a test but AJ is back.
It’s boxing, [the] big upper cut is good, it’s a knockdown. AJ [come] back and win.
“Greedy Belly [Fury] will speak now and say weak chin, Greedy Belly get out. AJ wins [against Fury], [he will] knock him out.”
Fury was victorious on Friday as he earned a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach in Thailand, paving the way for the showdown against Joshua later this year.
Jake Paul was the last man to fight Anthony Joshua and he has now revealed his verdict on AJ’s chaotic victory over Kristian Prenga.
Joshua went up against Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturdayin a clash that was expected to be a comfortable win for the former world heavyweight champion in order to set up the long overdue battle against Tyson Fury.
Any hopes of seeing that clash were nearly ended after AJ was dropped twice in the opening round of the bout, though he was able to recover and claim the second round knockout to come out on top and prevent a stunning shock upset from taking place.
Saturday’s outing saw Joshua back in the ring for the first time since his sixth round triumph over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul back in Decemberand now ‘The Problem Child’ himself has shared his reaction to his former rival’s victory over Prenga.
Posting on social mediaPaul praised AJ for earning the win, after returning to action following the tragic car crash he was involved in at the end of last year which took the lives of his two close friends.
“Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through. Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.”
Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through.
Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 25, 2026
The win for Joshua should now tee up for meeting with Fury later this year, after ‘The Gypsy King’ held up his end of the bargain by also securing a win in his warm-up bout on Friday, securing a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach.
Anthony Joshua may have earned a knockout win over Kristian Prenga but the fight certainly didn’t unfold as most people expected.
Joshua was facing the Albanian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and it looked like a massive upset could be on the cards when he was dropped twice in the opening round.
‘AJ’ was able to recover and went on to secure a second round knockout victory to prevent the shock lossseemingly paving the way for the battle against Tyson Fury later this year.
One man who was ringside to witness the battle was former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellewand he praised Joshua’s ability to turn things around in the fight after describing it as ‘chaos’.
“We predicted round two but I don’t think we foresaw that. That was chaos. He doesn’t see the uppercut coming and finds himself on the floor without knowing how he got there.
“The second one he did see it coming and he was able to clench down on the jaw. He got up and then the experience that he has he used tonight because he tied him up. Against Andy Ruiz he didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t know how to do that, but tonight he did.
“He showed once again there is no quit. To be that hurt in the first round and get up, that’s the recoveries of power. People talk about your chin, but it’s not, it’s the level of fitness that gets you up from the floor.
“When Joshua gets a fighter hurt he’s the best finisher in the division. Whenever he hurts someone they’re gone. I haven’t seen him drop anybody and they survive, only Andy Ruiz. He’s a ruthless finisher.”
The clash between Joshua and Fury is now expected to be announced soon for later this year, after Fury won his own interim fight on Friday by defeating Mariusz Wach.
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