Bernard Hopkins has compared Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson with a legendary welterweight fight from the 1980s, believing that one man has ‘more weapons to win with.’
The pair will lock horns at Madison Square Garden in New York this evening, with Stevenson looking to become a four-weight world champion.
Entering their super-lightweight clash as a sizable favourite, the 28-year-old comes off a dominant performance against William Zepeda down at 135lbs.
The points victory in July saw him retain his WBC strap in spectacular fashion, but he must now take on a physically more imposing man at 140lbs.
Indeed, Lopez is expected to boast a noticeable size advantage come fight night, with many believing, too, that he has the edge in athleticism.
And while Stevenson is most certainly the matador, Lopez’s skillset would suggest that he is a little more sophisticated than a bull, at least in this particular contest.
But still, Hall of Famer Hopkins believes that this fight is not too dissimilar to Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran’s rematch, where the former produced a more polished performance to outbox the latter.
Speaking with FightHype.com, Hopkins insisted that Lopez-Stevenson is more akin to Duran-Leonard than, say, Leonard against Thomas Hearns.
“[It’s] a fight that I believe is going to live up to all its expectations, and all the talent that both guys have.
“But Shakur Stevenson, to me, has more weapons to win with; more weapons to confuse anybody.
“I believe that Shakur will win. It’ll be a close fight but not a controversial fight. I’ll say it’s more like Duran and Leonard [than Leonard-Hearns].”
While many would take being compared with Duran as a terrific complement, Lopez is likely to argue that, stylistically, they are worlds apart.
Based on his two career-best performances against Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor, Lopez is far more of an explosive counterpuncher than a front-foot aggressor.
