Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has offered his take on Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson, predicting a landslide victory and for the winner to ‘cook’ his fellow pound-for-pound star.
The two Americans will square off at Madison Square Garden, New York, this Saturday, with Lopez putting his WBO world super-lightweight title up for grabs.
It has been more than four years since the Brooklyn man’s only professional loss, against George Kambosos Jr, which followed his mightily impressive points victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020.
Since then, Lopez has cemented himself at 140lbs, having dethroned Josh Taylor in 2023, and is now coming off three consecutive WBO title defences.
The most recent of which saw him outpoint Arnold Barboza Jr in May, which followed two underwhelming performances against Steve Claggett and Jamaine Ortiz.
Stevenson, meanwhile, boasts a far more consistent run of displays and enters their eagerly-anticipated showdown as an unbeaten, three-weight world champion.
The 28-year-old’s last outing saw him defend his WBC lightweight title in July, producing a measured but no less assertive performance to outpoint William Zepeda.
Against Lopez, though, Stevenson will be confronted with arguably a career-toughest challenge, knowing that he must negate his opponent’s athleticism and explosiveness.
But despite many anticipating this being a highly-competitive chess match, super-welterweight contender Ennis has suggested that Stevenson will dominate Lopez, winning nine of the 12 rounds this weekend.
Speaking with YSM Sports Media, the former unified welterweight champion predicted a surprisingly one-sided contest.
“I think Shakur’s going to cook him, I ain’t going to lie. I think Shakur’s going to cook him 9-3.”
While Stevenson has been made a clear pre-fight favourite, many believe that Lopez’s skills are being somewhat overlooked ahead of their clash.
