Former light-heavyweight ruler Antonio Tarver has broken down how Teofimo Lopez can come out on top against Shakur Stevenson, ahead of their salivating super-lightweight showdown at the end of the month.
Lopez boasts wins over divisional poster boys in Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor and possesses the much-desired knack of turning up against elite opposition and rising to their level, but he still enters his next WBO super-lightweight world title defence as the underdog.
At Madison Square Garden, ‘The Takeover’ will be tasked with three-division world champion Stevenson, who has somewhat breezed through the featherweight, super-featherweight and lightweight divisions untroubled in recent years.
Ahead of their tough-to-call meeting, Tarver told Fight Hub TV that he believes the only way that Lopez can hand Stevenson a first career defeat is by knocking him out, before highlighting how the strength of the challenger’s hands could play a factor in the fight.
“The only chance that he got is to be his ultra self, doing all of the things that makes him Teofimo Lopez.
“The footwork could be a major advantage for him, being able to get inside. A lot of times he fights free, he doesn’t really have a style, he does what it takes. He is a gutsy fighter; he is not going to be leery to take chances, he is a gambler in there.
“He is a live underdog, I would say, but if he is to win this fight, he probably has to stop Shakur Stevenson. He is going to have to hit him with something and let’s hope that Shakur’s hands hold up.
“I still believe that, if he is in a fisticuff and he has to slug it out, those brittle hands are going to have to hold up, if he wants to put a dent in Teofimo Lopez.”
Stevenson underwent hand surgery in late 2024 after tearing his sagittal band and collateral ligament but the Newark-born superstar has fought twice since, trumping both Josh Padley and William Zepeda during 2025.
The reigning WBC lightweight champion will challenge Lopez for the WBO 140lb crown on Saturday, January 31, in New York, topping a bill that features two additional world title contests before the main event.
