The boxing world gets a highly anticipated matchup between two area fighters who have been linked for a decade when Newark’s Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs), who vacated his WBC lightweight title, will move up from 135 to 140 pounds to challenge Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) for his WBO and Ring junior welterweight titles this Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
The 28-year-old Stevenson, named after the late hip-hop artist and actor Tupac Shakur, burst onto the boxing scene when he won a silver medal in the bantamweight division at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He turned professional in 2017. The Brooklyn-born Lopez, 28, also competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, representing Honduras, the country his parents are from, in the lightweight division, but fell short of winning a medal.
“In reality, man, this guy is the best, and we’re here to face the best,” Lopez said last month at an MSG press conference promoting the bout. “That’s just what it is. Forget the rest … Every fighter that I faced, in this beautiful weight class, all the things that I learned from every fighter that I faced, to now, will be on display against Shakur Stevenson.”
Lopez hasn’t had a fight since last May at Times Square, where he earned a unanimous victory over Arnold Barboza Jr. He is hoping to avoid the second loss of his career, after being defeated by George Kambosos Jr. in November 2021 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, relinquishing his unified lightweight titles.
Stevenson, one of the most talented boxers ever from New Jersey, said his mind will be as important as his physical skills when he takes on Lopez.
“A lot of the weaknesses are mental,” said Stevenson at the same press conference. “I think it’s more mental than anything again. I’m going to expose it. I just don’t think he realizes how good I am. I think come fight night, he’s going to realize that I’m gonna take it to another level that he has never seen before.”
Stevenson, who began boxing as a child after discovering that his grandfather Willie Moses was a trainer and coach in Newark, had a far more impressive last outing, handing Mexican William Zepeda his first loss last August at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens.
In a card stocked with local talent, Brownsville, Brooklyn’s Bruce Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) will defend his WBC Featherweight title against veteran Carlos Castro (30-3-0, 14 KOs). Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Jarrell Miller, who has not faced competition in the boxing ring since his August 2024 draw against former unified champion Andy Ruiz Jr., will take on Kingsley Ibeh.