Teofimo Lopez has shared an important update on his next move as he gears up to make his return to the ring.
The 28-year-old from Brooklyn last appeared back in May when he defeated countryman Arnold Barboza Jr to successfully defend his WBO super-lightweight title for the third time at the iconic Times Square in New York City.
Lopez made the move up to 140lbs back in 2022 after he suffered the first defeat of his career to Australia’s George Kambosos Jr, surrendering his unified WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight titles in the process.
He could now be set to take on another 135lb star, as it has been speculated in recent weeks that ‘The Takeover’ is set to face three-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson next, with rumours circulating that the American duo will lock horns during the early stages of 2026.
Speaking on the Ten Eight Podcast, Lopez revealed that whilst he is ‘annoyed’ that the showdown between himself and Stevenson has not yet been finalised, he claimed that he expects the deal to be made official ‘this week’.
“Yeah man I’m waiting too. I’m kind of annoyed, I ain’t expected to wait this long, honestly I wanna fight already but there were some underlinings that my team and I were just trying to clean out before we get this going all the way through.
“I don’t even think they got paperwork set for Shakur yet but everybody’s throwing it at me but nothing’s even done with Shakur yet … I heard good news that this week should come to a close so let’s just see and wait.”
WBC lightweight champion Stevenson will make the move up to 140lbs should his clash with Lopez come to fruition next, as he sets his sights on becoming a four-division world champion and extending his unbeaten professional record to 25-0.
