Shakur Stevenson’s Power Isn’t the Point. Teofimo Lopez Is

William Zepeda wasn’t selling Shakur Stevenson when he talked about his power. He was just talking, and that usually tells you more than anything rehearsed.

Stevenson fights Teofimo Lopez for the WBO super lightweight title on January 31 at Madison Square Garden, and this fight keeps dragging the same concern behind it, because people still want to know if Lopez can just walk through him. Stevenson’s skill isn’t really the issue anymore, because the fight turns on whether Lopez feels safe enough to do that.

Zepeda tried to walk him down last summer and it did not go his way. Twelve rounds later he had his first loss and a different opinion than the one that gets passed around online. He said Stevenson has solid power, enough to keep a man at distance, which is not praise meant for highlights but it matters here.

“He has good, solid power that kept me at a distance. If he didn’t have any hand problems, he would be a problem a little bit more, but he has good, above-average power. Good sting,” said William Zepeda to KGTV about Shakur.

Stevenson doesn’t need to put Lopez on the canvas because he can win just by making him hesitate to throw. He has not looked like the aggressive fighter he was in the past since his loss to George Kambosos Jr.

Lopez does his best work when he believes he can take space. When he thinks he can step in, throw, and reset without worry, he becomes hard to slow down. When he feels something coming back, even if it is not damaging, his attacks get shorter and he waits more than he usually wants to.

That is where Stevenson does well. He is comfortable making a fight small, keeping it measured, and letting the other man reach a little too often. He does not need knockdowns for that to work for him to beat Teofimo. We already saw the light hitters Kambosos and Sandor Martin give Lopez massive problems.

Neither man comes in sharp by default. Stevenson has been out since the summer. Lopez has not fought since May. That makes the early rounds less about form and more about belief, who moves first and who decides what is allowed.

Stevenson has titles in three divisions already, because this one is not about adding to a resume. It is about whether his way of fighting holds up when the other guy refuses to wait.

If Lopez believes the power is real, even just a little, the night gets complicated. If he does not, Stevenson has no room to be ordinary.