Coach Malik Scott says Teofimo Lopez has a lot to prove as he goes into his fight against Shakur Stevenson on January 31, 2026, in New York.
Scott Questions Teo’s Progress
Malik notes that Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) lost to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021, and came back from that loss to win his six fights. He states that Lopez was the best fighter among many not-so-great performances earlier this year on the Times Square card in New York.
Although Teofimo was the best of a bad lot that night, he was still far from great. It looked to some boxing fans like he was copying Shakur’s fighting style. He had his style nailed down pat, with the three-step pull-back, distance control, and the hit-and-not-get-hit.
It worked well for Lopez, as he defeated Arnold Barboza Jr. by a 12-round unanimous decision, but it wasn’t entertaining to watch. As Scott points out, if you put Teofimo in the main event fighting like that, boxing fans wouldn’t have raved. His fight was on the undercard, and the two fights above his were very poor.
“He came back from that Kambosos fight, but in some ways, the jury is still out on Teo a little bit,” said trainer Malik Scott to InsideRingShow, about Teofimo Lopez still with a lot to prove going into his title defense against Shakur Stevenson on January 31, 2026.
“On that card at Times Square, he looked the best out of a lot of people that didn’t look good. If you put him in the main event somewhere, people, to me, wouldn’t rave about that fight [Arnold Barbaroza Jr.]. So, he still has a lot to prove, too. Not as much as Shakur, but he definitely has got a lot to prove still,” said Scott.
Shakur Has His Own Flaws
It’s not just Teofimo with a lot to prove. Shakur (24-0, 11 KOs) does as well. He didn’t look great in his last four fights at lightweight. The only bout in which Stevenson looked impressive in his five fights since moving up to 135 was against Shuichiro Yoshino, and he’s not a world-class level fighter.
In Shakur’s case, he’s gotten over due to Top Rank and Matchroom protecting him all these years. He’s still the same fighter that Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez beat in the 2016 Olympics. There’s no improvement. The only difference is that his promoters have protected him, keeping him away from fighters like Gary Antuanne, Russell, Andy Cruz, Floyd Schofield, and Abdullah Mason.