Teofimo Lopez opens up on Shakur Stevenson defeat: ‘I just went with the wrong plan’
On January 31, at Madison Square Garden in New York, Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) delivered a dominating performance in beating Teofimo Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 119-109 x3. Since that historic win, which saw Stevenson win The Ring and WBO super lightweight titles, he has been stripped of his WBC lightweight belt, with many wondering what’s next for Shakur.
Lopez recently spoke to Carl Froch and gave his honest opinion on what went wrong against Stevenson.
Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson ends in comfortable win for Stevenson
Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) was at his commanding best against Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs), as he controlled the tempo from the first round, working smartly off his jab. It felt like Shakur was always one step ahead of Lopez, who couldn’t land anything of note. Lopez had brief moments of success, but the laser-accuracy of Stevenson was impressive throughout.
The way he just peered over his shoulder and slipped the majority of punches from Lopez was brilliant to watch.
‘The Takeover’ reflects honestly on Stevenson defeat
When asked about what went wrong in his loss to Stevenson, Lopez said: “(The) majority of it didn’t work out. None of it, really. Then I think that, just not having my coach properly focused, laser-focused on the fight. I think that also aligned with the result of that night. But kudos to Shakur. Came up to 140, and fought the best guy at that weight, which was myself.
“And we’ll see what he does next. Nothing truly surprised me other than what I did. I just went with the wrong plan. I tried something quick. I didn’t just take my time with him. I just tried to rush into this new style that we’ve been working on. Not the right person to do that with. I was too flat. Way too flat.
“I didn’t have no footwork, and I’m known for my footwork.”