Teofimo Lopez says WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson should move back up to 130 or 126 pounds to become the undisputed contender in that division.
Teofimo said Shakur was eating a lot between camps, which caused him to gain weight, up to 135 pounds, and he wasn't performing as well as he had before.
Stevenson must be regretting that he's no longer at featherweight because his division is now heating up.
Shakur's rank history:
- Lightweight: 2022 to present
- Super featherweight: 2020 to 2022
- Featherweight: 2017-2020
Naoya Inoue may soon move up to 126 pounds, but if he were still fighting there, it would be a big-money bout for Shakur.
Shakur no longer has the punching power he had when he began his career at 126 pounds, and that won't change whether he stays at 135 or moves up to 140 to try to get to that level.
Stevenson's weight gain and declining performance
When Shakur fought at 126 pounds, he was like pure gold and was seen as a sure thing to become a star of the future, but then he moved up a weight class and at 130 and 135 pounds he just wasn't the same.
Lopez said Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) was at his best when fighting in the lighter weight classes of featherweight and super featherweight.
If Shakur is eating the way Teofimo describes, he's not going to go back down to 130 or 126, and he probably won't last very long at 135. He already looks like he's got a more flexible midsection, which is a good sign he's eating well between fights.
“With Shakur Stevenson, we're never gonna lock gloves. I don't care. Shakur Stevenson, if they want to call him 'sugar,' he's a guy that's got a lot of sugar,” Teofimo Lopez told Danza Project about WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson.
Teofimo isn't the only one who isn't interested in fighting Shakur. All the top 135-pounders don't want anything to do with Shakur, and that's not going to change. Shakur is in a situation where he doesn't have a shot at moving up in the lightweight division, and that's not going to change in the future.
In any job, if your boss doesn't like you enough to promote you, you move on, stagnate or get fired. Shakur isn't liked enough at 135 lbs to face Gervonta Davis or Vasiliy Lomachenko. The only guy who would want to fight Shakur, William Cepeda, is totally unworthy of Shakur and would be a nightmare to fight.
Call 130 or 126 to return
“He was actually at his best when he was at his lightest weight, but he ate a lot between camps and now he's up to 135 pounds. My dad was right about these kids, about Haney and about them in a lot of ways,” Teofimo said.
Lopez was right about Shakur. When he fought at 126 pounds, he stood out like a future Hall of Famer and a man destined for greatness. But after gaining nine pounds to 135, Shakur was no longer strong at the weight class and was forced to move around more than he did at 126.
“You need power and you need a chin,” Teofimo said. “Shakur, you should go back down to 130 pounds or try to go up to 126 because then you'll be an undisputed fighter and people will really be talking about you.”
The super featherweight division is currently stagnant
130 is a dead weight class, so it makes no sense for Shakur to go back there. He should go back to 126 and fight these killers:
- Bruce Carrington
- Nick Ball
- Rafael Espinosa
- Naoya Inoue: *Promoted soon
- Stephen Fulton
- Ray Vargas
- Robeisy Ramirez
- Luis Lopez
“In fact, we'll be on equal footing on that list, but you know what? We're relying on investors. We're asking for help on the back end, and that's not going to work,” Teofimo said.
