Teofimo on 140

Lopez’s 140-pound titles came against Josh Taylor, who was coming off a questionable victory over Jack Catterall and has now lost three fights in a row. Teofimo narrowly defeated Taylor by a 12-round unanimous decision and didn’t look good in his last fight against Arnold Barboza Jr. in May last year.

Lopez did not show the same level of performance at welterweight as he did at 135, when he had a size advantage over his opponent.

“Choose this fight to challenge yourself. Dare to be great and I will do it. The only path to true greatness is to take high risks. These moments will turn me into a legend, let’s do it! #ShakurTeofimo,” Shakur Stevenson said on the show X about the title fight with Teofimo Lopez

“For me and my family, I want to eat forever. That’s for sure, there’s no doubt about it,” Shakur told Breadkfast Club 105.1 about the money he will receive for fighting Teofimo Lopez on January 31.

“I think it would take me to a whole different level,” Stevenson said of how a win over Teofimo would impact his career. “In this case, pound for pound after I beat Teo, you put me in the top five.”

What victory really means

Beating Teofimo wouldn’t take Shakur’s career to a “completely different level” in the true sense of the word. It would be superficial smoke and mirrorsfighting a guy who looks like a shell of the fighter he once was since moving up to 140 pounds.

Die-hard fans who follow the sport closely and scrutinize the competition like Nation Vegas does can easily spot that Lopez hasn’t been fighting at his best since coming up to welterweight. Turki Alalshikh would really do the fans a favor if he insisted that Shakur fight Gary Antuanne Russell or Subriel Matias. These two have 140-pound belts and are fighting at a high level.

“I feel Teo should be undisputed. The guy is talented and will be one of the best players on my CV,” Stevenson said of Lopez.

Shakur talks about how Teofimo defeated WBA/WBO/WBC Franchise Lightweight Champion Vasily Lomachenko in 2020 and was given no credit for being the undisputed champion. He did not win the regular WBC 135-pound belt, which was then held by Devin Haney.

Did Lopez slip?

It wouldn’t have mattered if Teofimo had gone undisputed five years ago. The reality is that he doesn’t look like the same fighter since moving up to 140 pounds in 2021. Lopez lost to George Kambosos, who was involved in two controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin.

Better tests on 140

More importantly, Teofimo chose not to fight these high-level fighters for some reason:

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

That doesn’t make Shakur worthy of a top-five pound-for-pound ranking if he beats Teofimo. He didn’t show that he was one of the best in the welterweight division because he chose not to fight top fighters.

Lopez’s selection of Pedro Campa, Sandor Martin, Josh Taylor, Arnold Barboza Jr. and Steve Claggett suggests that he protected his career by facing lesser threats. If Shakur wants to be added to the P4P list, he should focus on fighting against the above list of untouchable players, starting with Ernesto Mercado. Let’s see how Shakur handles him.