Teofimo Lopez is looking for the biggest fights boxing has to offer.
Currently holding the WBO title at super-lightweight, Lopez is in the market for his next opponent and has called out Terence Crawford relentlessly for a fight which would require him to move up two weight divisions.
If he decides to stick in the 140 pounds ranks there are plenty of fights out there for him. A potential unification with the winner of Liam Paro versus Richardson Hitchins, a defence against top contender Jack Catterall or big-money affairs against Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia.
There are also potential match-ups with any of the current crop at 135 should they decide to move up, notably Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson.
However, Lopez told the Front Row with Mack & Rick podcast that a match-up with defensive master Stevenson is one he is not interested in.
“I’m serious about this, I just don’t want to give him his first loss. It’s not because he’s this, he’s that. No. We’ve all known each other since teenagers. I remember Shakur was there when I lost the finals of the National Golden Gloves. I was crying. But he had won that year. It was 2011. He came to the back and he was talking to me. I think on that level. He was there to give me some advice and pick my head up to keep moving forward.
I think it’d be kind of messed up if I whoop that ass and give him that talk. If it comes around it comes around. If everybody thinks he’s that guy then so be it.”
Stevenson currently holds the WBC Lightweight World Title. He made one successful defence before a hand injury forced him to pull out of his next scheduled bout against Joe Cordina. Instead he intends to return in 2025 to face William Zepeda.
That will be just his fourth fight at 135, so a move up to 140, whilst likely, could be a year or so away.
