A native of Newark, New Jersey, 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson entered the pro ranks back in 2017. A lot of hype surrounded Stevenson, and nine years into his professional career, Shakur has exceeded all expectations.
The undefeated Shakur Stevenson is a professional fighter with all the tools. Stevenson has a high pure IQ, high defense, a learned jab, speed, footwork, and good punching.
During his reign in the boxing game, Shakur has had a lot of success, but he has received some criticism from fans. Some regulars call Shakur’s hitting, but don’t hit the fight style boring.
Yellow fans also see Shakur’s style as a running style. In his most recent clean appearance, Stevenson thrilled fans and fans alike when he stepped into the ring to face William Zepeda.
During the fight, top puncher William Zepeda dictated the pace. Shakur Stevenson didn’t back down as he made his way to the pocket and joined in a crowd-pleasing fight.
With 28 seconds left in the third round, William Zepeda rocked Shakur Stevenson when he landed a powerful right hand. For the rest of the fight, Stevenson was in charge of the defense, and at the end of the bout, he kept landing sharp punches.
At the end of the exciting 12-round contest, Stevenson was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Now the 28-year-old Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) plans to face the biggest challenge of his professional career.
Teofimo Lopez is 28 years old, a two-weight world champion, smart and very athletic. Despite his great talent, Lopez was the perfect replacement for Stevenson in his Mayweather era.
Back in June 2005, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was set to fight two-time world champion Arturo Gatti. Mayweather put on a master class as he finished off Gatti and continued to stop him in the sixth round.
The win over Gatti helped catapult Mayweather from star to mega star. Fast forward to now, and three-time world champion Shakur Stevenson is in the same position Mayweather was 21 years ago.
On Saturday night, Stevenson gets the chance to take over a popular brand and make the transition from star to mega star. Just like the Mayweather vs Gatti match, the Lopez vs Stevenson has a huge gap in skill sets.
Another similarity is the fact that Teofimo makes a lot of mistakes, and similar to Mayweather, Shakur is a pure technician who will take advantage of every mistake made by his opponent.
Teofimo’s main weaknesses are his habit of spreading his pictures, his low leadership, and his overbearing attitude. If Teofimo makes these mistakes on Saturday night, then Shakur will have a chance to dominate and create his Mayweather turning point.