Mood matters, especially when it comes to WBO super lightweight world champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. The 28-year-old often says about himself and to his team, “The only one who could beat me is me. When my mind is right, I’m unstoppable.” In 2020, when Lopez beat Vasiliy Lomachenko for the unified IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight titles, his mind was right. In 2023, when “The Takeover” vanquished previously undefeated Josh Taylor for the WBO super lightweight championship, his mind was right.
Going into Saturday’s showdown against undefeated southpaw Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) feels he is in the best pre-fight mindset he’s ever been in. Lopez will be defending the WBO super lightweight title, while WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) makes his first foray into the 140-pound class.
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Lopez may be far more athletic — and far more intelligent — than he is given credit for. He likes to play the role of the crazy fighter, with a twinkle in his eyes, hinting he is crazy like a fox.
“I feel great, I’m happy, and what more can we do in boxing than fight the best, and that is what boxing will be getting this Saturday,” Lopez said. “I know I can hurt [Stevenson]. The only thing that disturbs me is the fact that he removed his gap between his front teeth. He may not be the same guy that I know, he may be a clone. I may knock his head off and wires sprout up. Seriously, I hope that I’m not facing Jesse Owens and Shakur runs all night. I kid you not, I have been working on his traits and new things I am being told every day.
“It will be up to me to stop him from running. I will need to cut off the ring if he does run. It’s the mindset leading up to the fight, and the mindset going into the ring, and I feel I have a lot more to show the boxing world than he does.”
There is a history between the two of them. In 2016, when Lopez and Stevenson were both 17, they sparred. Lopez, according to him and his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., did three rounds and Stevenson could not catch Lopez, allegedly prompting Stevenson to instruct Lopez Sr. to turn the camera off.
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To this day, it rankles Lopez Jr. that he won the lightweight division at the U.S. Olympic trials in December 2015 yet still did not make the 2016 U.S. Olympic team that went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the U.S. flag. Instead, under a convoluted system, Carlos Baldera was the U.S. representative, qualifying based on his finish in AIBA’s World Series of Boxing, something Lopez was not old enough to compete in.
Lopez, a 2015 Golden Gloves champion, was able to use his parents’ birth country of Honduras to fight in the 2016 Olympics, where he lost by unanimous decision to France’s Sofiane Oumiha. Stevenson, meanwhile, went on to capture the silver medal at bantamweight, losing to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez by split decision in the gold medal match.
“It is exactly what I mean when I say he was handed everything, and I was handed nothing to get to where I am,” Lopez told Uncrowned in December. “[Stevenson] had a much easier road to a world title than I had. I lost to [Maliek Montgomery] in the Olympic trials, then came back and beat him to win the whole thing. I remember crying after I won, knowing I did everything I was supposed to do and they took [representing the U.S.] away from me. There is a reason why I think the way I do, and why I took bigger risks early in my career than [Stevenson] took. It was over a decade ago, and it is something I still carry with me.
“It still pisses me off.”
Teofimo Lopez’s rivalry with Shakur Stevenson dates back to their differing paths into the 2016 Olympic Games.
(YURI CORTEZ via Getty Images)
On Monday, Lopez weighed 147 pounds and was in “incredible shape,” according to Lopez Sr. Team Lopez cut out water on Tuesday and should easily make 140 pounds for Friday’s official weigh-in.
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You get the sense that fighting Stevenson, 28, is Lopez’s missed Olympic moment, which he feels was robbed of him. It is added incentive to layers of incentive in a war of words the pair have engaged in for years.
“My son is so happy, and his attitude is where it should be — he listened to everything we spoke about during training camp,” Lopez Sr. said. “This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him before a fight. He has no worries at all. He’s relaxed, confident, and he laughed and danced through training camp. His performance will open a lot of eyes. He was amazing in sparring — no one could hit him. The boxing world will see him shine on Saturday night. ‘Gordo’ wants to show everybody who he is.”
Another interesting point, Lopez Sr. said, is that his son has not drank alcohol or smoked marijuana in more than a year. He’s been clean between fights.
“He liked to have a good time between fights, and he knows the importance of rest — he is staying off social media, and it is such a big difference how clean his system is,” Lopez Sr. said. “He is staying in great shape between fights. He has been amazing in sparring. He is in and out, and he will be tough to hit. These fighters today stay at the same level; my son keeps getting better. He is finally listening to me, and the way he is moving, Shakur will be exposed if he tries certain things. We can stop Stevenson.
“Shakur throws a slow double jab, and the second jab he keeps in your face. He will leave it out there, trying to get his opponent to come and throw, and he counters off that. Teofimo will not fall for that. Stevenson is a southpaw. Lomachenko was a southpaw, and Josh Taylor too. My son eats southpaws.”
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Lopez does have the better résumé. He beat Masayoshi Nakatani in 2019, Lomachenko in 2020 for the unified lightweight titles, and suffered his only loss as a professional by split decision in 2021 to George Kambosos Jr., who has not been the same since afterward, losing four of his next six fights. Lopez has since beaten Taylor for the WBO super lightweight championship in June 2023, and handed Arnold Barboza Jr. his first pro defeat this past May in Lopez’s only fight in 2025.
Lopez and Stevenson are both in the primes of their careers. They are both 28. They are both 5-foot-8. Lopez has a 68.5-inch reach; Stevenson has a 68-inch reach. Lopez fights out of an orthodox stance, while Stevenson is a southpaw. The styles drastically clash. Lopez is a boxer-puncher, while Stevenson is a boxer with little pop.
“My purpose is far more than being rich or famous — I want to change the world,” Lopez said with a grin. “I know what he can do and what he cannot do. I need to focus on what I have to do, and I’m ready. I know I have my critics. Everyone has their opinions. I know people do not think I can win. My biggest victory is my next victory, and then the next one after that. I’ll admit it, I’m my worst enemy. I get in my own way sometimes, but no one will be in my way January 31.
“When I look at myself, I like what I see. One day I’ll get my respect. The more I focus on me, the better I am. I love being doubted. I want to unlock the chains that have been keeping me out for a long time. Like I said, Shakur was handed everything on his way up, and I was not given s***. I like the head space I’m in.”
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It’s something that could be very dangerous for Stevenson this Saturday.
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