WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, hands down, is the best in the lightweight division. Although he hasn’t fought the ‘Face of Boxing’ Gervonta Davis yet, Stevenson can’t be blamed for that, since he has been calling out Davis for a while now. So, what’s the next move for the Newark native? As you may have guessed, he wants to move to super lightweight (140 pounds) and eventually welterweight (147 pounds). It appears he also has the perfect plan to conquer that division, fighting WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.

Shakur revealed his plans today while appearing in an interview with GHBTV on YouTube. While speaking with Stevenson, who was scheduled to fight Joe Cordina on October 12, 2024, but had to withdraw due to a hand injury sustained in training camp, the show’s host inquired about the direction of his career moving forward. “Probably like 40, 47,” Stevenson said. “I used to think I was gonna get to like 54, but I ain’t been growing in a minute.”

He further explained that while he’s confident about moving up to the 140-pound division, reaching 147 pounds will require significant hard work. However, Shakur Stevenson is determined to check 140 pounds off his list. This prompted the host to delve deeper and ask who would be a good fight for the WBC lightweight champion at 140, to which, ‘Sugar’ responded without any hesitation: “Teo. Me and Teo.”

“I think Teo be going on the air and just be popping all types of s**t, but then he’ll say he not gonna fight me for whatever reasons,” Stevenson added, indicating that he would be ready to face Lopez whenever he’s up for a fight. But what about Lopez, does he even want to fight Stevenson?

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Teofimo Lopez reveals why he doesn’t want to fight Shakur Stevenson

Earlier this month, ‘The Takeover’ appeared in the It Is What It Is podcast, where he revealed why he doesn’t want to fight Shakur Stevenson. “To be real, just I ain’t trying to give the man his first loss,” Teofimo Lopez said, adding, “I’ll let somebody else take that, handle that.” He further elaborated on seeing Stevenson lose in the amateur circuit. Claiming they were competing in amateurs during the same time, Lopez revealed Stevenson could not handle a loss.

 “[One time] in Vegas, National Golden Gloves, 2015, same year me and Jaron Ennis ‘Boots’ won, and Shakur, man, he lost it. He lost to Ruben Villa and then he… I think he did — went up to one of the rooftop of the hotel and he wanted to jump off,” Lopez said while he pointed out Stevenson’s loss to Robeisy Ramírez of Cuba during the 2016 Summer Olympics, stating, “That Olympic s**t, him tearing up and stuff, that ain’t nothing. Like, it’s been bad.”

It appears Shakur Stevenson might not see his plans to move up and fight Teofimo Lopez come to fruition. However, Lopez’s reasoning behind not accepting the challenge feels like nothing more than an excuse. What do you think, should Stevenson move up? And why is Lopez worried about Stevenson losing it? Share your take in the comments below.