Teofimo Lopez Vows To Dodge Shakur Stevenson Out of Loyalty
In his next prizefight, WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez (20-1, 13 KO’s) will take on Steve Claggett in a match that surprised the boxing world. It was a shock because very few casuals have ever even heard of, let alone hailed, the #8 WBO contender. Yet, when it comes to well-known and respected WBC lightweight champion “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KO’s), who is managed by J Prince, Lopez says it’ll never happen.
When sitting down for an extremely long Q&A on The Danza Project YouTube channel, The Takeover supplied a rather puzzling rationale for why he would not ever face this talented would-be rival.
“Jada Pinky [J Prince], got nothing but love and respect to you, my brother; it’s always been that way. I remember we spoke in your home a few times and it’s been a remarkable time speaking with you and I will not fight your guy! I am not there to fuck your money up; I’d rather let him do that on his own. So, Shakur Stevenson, we won’t ever lace up a pair of gloves. I don’t care what they try to do because I respect J very much.”
SAY WHAT NOW?
This justification for why he will not entertain Stevenson is somewhat baffling. To begin, J Prince has backed numerous fighters over the years including Winky Wright, Diego Corrales, Duke Ragan, Efe Ajagba, Jared Anderson and many others. Several of his fighters have been defeated without those victorious opponents feeling the “wrath or scorn” of J Prince.
As J Prince is a savvy businessman with quite a lengthy tenure in the boxing world, it’s only fair to reason he would understand the risk of pitting one of his boxers in against another top competitor. Going a step further, Lopez has suffered a loss himself, yet still enjoys lucrative endorsement deals and no doubt will receive juicy purses for future prizefights. So, if he can lose and go on to continue making handsome paydays, why couldn’t Stevenson?
CROSSING ONE BRIDGE AT A TIME
If common belief holds true, then come June 29, Lopez will defeat Claggett. In the off chance that he doesn’t win, The Takeover will have a whole new mountain of problems to overcome. Yet, assuming he does win, it will be very interesting to see who his next opponent will be.
For as mentioned previously, precious few are eager to see him dance with Claggett and an army of folks already believe he should have lost to his last opponent, Jamaine Ortiz.
For these reasons, he needs to look good on June 29 and it’d probably be a good idea to stop shooting down potential fights with top fighters for logic that doesn’t stand up under much weight. So for the time being, let’s just see how this next prizefight pans out.
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