Teofimo Lopez Says Shakur Stevenson Kept Stepping on His Feet

Lopez points to foot placement and elbows when explaining January loss

Teofimo Lopez says Shakur Stevenson repeatedly stepped on his feet during their January fight. Lopez raised the issue while explaining why the bout felt uncomfortable in the ring..

Teofimo said Stevenson repeatedly stepped on his feet during the fight and claimed Shakur has a reputation for doing it.

“To be frank with you, I kept getting my foot stepped on by Shakur,” said Teofimo Lopez to InsideRingShow about the tactics Stevenson was using to gain an advantage over him last January.

Max Kellerman quickly pointed out that accidental foot contact can happen naturally between orthodox fighters, but Lopez pushed back when Devin Haney asked whether he had experienced it before in sparring.

“Nah, not like this, and Shakur is known for it,” said Teofimo.

Lopez also mentioned elbows being used during exchanges, but stopped short of turning it into a full complaint about dirty tactics.

“Obviously, some elbows in between there, but these are things that happen in a fight. Do you know what I mean? It’s a fight for a reason.”

The more revealing part of Lopez’s comments came afterward, when he suggested the event itself had been built around Stevenson becoming boxing’s next major star.

“I think it was great. It was tailor-made for Shakur to be the next big thing. And then it’s now for me to come back all over again and do what I do.”

That sounds less like Teofimo disputing the official result and more like a fighter frustrated by how the night played out stylistically and commercially. Stevenson’s control of distance, positioning, and pace already made him a difficult matchup. Lopez is now adding another element to that picture by saying the subtle inside work disrupted him throughout the fight.

Shakur has long been praised for his ring IQ and craft. Teofimo’s comments suggest some opponents may view that craft differently once they are stuck in the ring trying to deal with it for twelve rounds.

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