Tim Bradley has compared Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson, a battle of athleticism and technical prowess, to an iconic matchup between two pound-for-pound legends.
It was confirmed this week that Lopez will defend his WBO world super-lightweight title against Stevenson, the WBC king at 135lbs, on January 31.
The pair are set to meet at a venue in New York, with the winner surely placing himself in a more favourable position on the consensus pound-for-pound list.
Stevenson has proven to be the more consistent operator at world level, especially in recent years, with his diligent style typically making for a one-sided spectacle.
The three-weight world champion has hardly come close to losing any of his 24 professional outings, other than perhaps against Edwin De Los Santos, where the southpaw slickster delivered a subpar performance but nonetheless emerged victorious in 2023.
Lopez, on the other hand, suffered a shock defeat to George Kambosos Jr in 2021, losing the lightweight jewellery he gained following a scintillating display against Vasyl Lomachenko.
‘The Takeover’ was then perhaps fortunate to come away from his fights with Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, in 2022 and 2024, respectively, without being handed two further blemishes.
Yet his performances at 140lbs against Josh Taylor and, more recently, Arnold Barboza Jr would suggest that Lopez’s explosiveness and athleticism could cause Stevenson more than a few problems.
For Bradley, who commented on the fight via his YouTube channel, their matchup includes much of the qualities that were seen between Roy Jones Jr and Antonio Tarver.
“This is going to be one hell of a technical battle that I can’t wait to see. You’re going to witness fundamentals, great fundamentals, versus that explosive stuff.
“Let me give you a prime example: not to this degree, but Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones [Jr]. Tarver had them fundamentals down; Roy didn’t have them fundamentals down.”
Bradley then went on to insist that Stevenson, while not known as a puncher, can generate power against Lopez through timing and precision, much like Tarver did in his rematch with Jones, stopping him in the second round.
