Shakur Stevenson bites back at the media and Teofimo Lopez
As it is with anything in life, you will often come into contact with some form of bias. It could be as simple as your own preference to chicken over beef, or blues instead of rap. In this instance, WBO super featherweight champion “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KO’s) has taken issue with media entity Michael Benson.
When Benson produced a tweet restating Teofimo “Take Over” Lopez’s (16-0, 12 KO’s) belief that he and Vasiliy “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KO’s) run the division, Stevenson naturally felt this was out of pocket. For him, the reporter was implying the words to be true by an imbalanced representation. So, quicker than Pennywise could dice up some unattended tykes, Fearless put his own little blue bird to work rebuking the praise for the WBA super, WBO and IBF lightweight champion.
SAY WHAT?!
It’s little wonder that the New Jersey native would respond in such a knee-jerk fashion. Largely regarded as one of the great talents in the sport, the two division champion is fresh off his career best win. On October 23, he out-sped, out-boxed, outclassed and generally beat up Jamel Herring en route to a wide unanimous decision win. With the victory, Stevenson bagged Herring’s scalp and his WBO title. It was especially meaningful because he took it from the standing champion, unlike the vacant WBO featherweight title that he defeated Joet Gonzalez for.
Even though they reside in different weight classes, it would not be inconceivable to see Stevenson leapfrog divisions yet again. Loma and the Take Over are undeniably leading names in the sport. Going the extra mile to go toe-to-toe with them would only add to his name value. In fact, there is little doubt that, like many, Stevenson would argue that Lopez just barely got past Loma himself. Countless individuals would love to see that rematch, but like too many top fights, the Teofimo Lopez has shown no interest in facing the Ukrainian again.
WHAT THINGS MAY COME
It’s fun to daydream about some of these fights: Lopez vs. Loma 2, Stevenson vs. Lopez or Loma vs Stevenson. None of these are all that far-fetched. Lomachenko came on with a vengeance in his showdown with the Take Over and looked close to stopping him in the eleventh. There are few, if any, arguments that justify this rematch not happening. As stated before, it’s not beyond the realm of imagination to see Stevenson moving up to dance with Lopez. In the same light, it’s not outrageous to envision Loma accepting a bout with Stevenson at super featherweight or some catch weight in between.
Sadly, the odds say that none of these fights will happen. Teofimo Lopez enjoys proclaiming he is the top dog of the division while actively avoiding the more meaningful bouts. This is precisely why he opted to fight the little regarded George Kambosos instead of rematch Loma or unify with WBC champion Devin Haney. Both are high profile, big money fights and the Haney dust up has historical significance. Kambosos has none of this. That is precisely why the shunned fight date has been kicked around like a phone dropped in a mosh pit.
The brief verbal retort was just about respect and not losing any off his name. It’s not likely that Fearless will pursue the Loma or Lopez fights no matter how juicy they might be. As it is, he’s been having enough trouble getting WBC super featherweight champion Oscar Valdez in the ring. That is actually the fight that he’s been chasing over two divisions with no end in sight. So while we wait for things to unfold, and the big fights to arrive, the Twitter-verse can provide some temporary glee. Yet, sooner rather than later, it’d be nice to get some more of the bigger showdowns.
By: Bakari Simpson
