Teofimo Lopez dismissed Shakur Stevenson’s call out of him at 140, letting him know he needed to stay in his lane at 135.
Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) is looking to expand his reach beyond the lightweight division, where he’s been avoided by the top fighters by calling out guys at 140, like Teofimo, the WBO light welterweight champion.
Is Money the Motivating Factor?
Teofimo (20-1, 13 KOs) says Shakur needs to stay at 135 and fight more aggressively because his hit-and-not-get-hit style isn’t cutting it. With that style, Stevenson cannot get the fights he wants against him.
It’s hypocritical for Teofimo to reject a fight against Shakur based on fighting a weight class below him at 135 because, in the same interview, Teo called out Terence Crawford, who fights at 154. Teofimo called out Crawford, telling him they could meet at 147.
Perhaps Teofimo, 26, is not interested in fighting Shakur because there’s no money in a fight against him due to his lack of stardom and his not being a ticket seller.
Teofimo can’t expect to make mega-millions on PPV fighting Shakur Stevenson like he could if he could in a clash against Crawford, who has become a star after being blessed by Errol Spence, who turned him into an attraction with his Midas touch last July.
Lopez Criticizes Stevenson’s Fighting Style
“I know you are calling us out at 140, but you’re fighting at 135. Stay in your lane,” said Teofimo Lopez to the Danza Project, giving lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson the brush-off, letting him know he’s not interested in fighting him at 140.
“I know that you got to keep yourself relevant, but there’s a type of relevancy you got to do. That means you got to fight; you really got to fight,” said Teofimo, meaning that Shakur has got to be willing to stand in the pocket and exchange with his opposition rather than using his usual elusive hit-not-get-hit fighting style.
Teofimo defends his WBO light welterweight title on June 29th against fringe contender Steve Claggett at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. According to Teo, he’s defending against Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) because none of the champions at 140 want to fight him.
Undercard Highlight
On the undercard, former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-2, 8 KOs) faces Brandon Leon Benitez (21-2, 9 KOs) in a 10-round co-feature bout.
This is two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy’s first fight back since losing his WBO 126-lb title to Rafael Espinoza by a 12-round majority decision last December. Robeisy was punished heavily in the Espinoza fight, and it would be interesting to see how he performs against Benitez this Saturday night.
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