An intriguing sub-plot has developed in the build-up to Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson.
The two 28-year-olds have long been viewed as potential superstars, and the winner of their January 31 clash will move a step closer to fulfilling that promise.
One figure looms large over the storyline: Terence Crawford. A close friend of Stevenson and a long-standing rival of Lopez, Crawford — regarded by many as the sport’s pound-for-pound number one — has been assisting Stevenson throughout camp, with the pair regularly training together as iron sharpens iron.
Crawford is expected to be at Madison Square Garden for Stevenson’s challenge for Lopez’s WBO super-lightweight title. Having unsuccessfully tried to goad Crawford into a fight in the past, Lopez knows he can send his message more effectively by defeating Stevenson next month.
Speaking on the Inside The Ring Show, Lopez explained how he hopes a win over Stevenson can lead to a future clash with ‘Bud.’
“Crawford sent out one of his little guys [Stevenson] to come and finish the job and I think that’s not going to work.
I’m still going to be here, and if he’s still going to be in boxing, I would love to face him right after [the Stevenson fight].
He is the guy; he is the man of boxing. If he can go up three weight divisions to fight Canelo Alvarez, why can’t Teofimo go up two weight classes, or three, to face Terence Crawford?”
Crawford is currently plotting his next move following his victory over Canelo Alvarez in September, and a victory for Lopez in January may well put him in the running for that fight.
