Paulie Malignaggi Forecasts Shakur Stevenson vs Teofimo Lopez
Former two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi has shared his thoughts on the upcoming bout between Shakur Stevenson and Teofimo Lopez. Lopez is prepared to defend his WBO world super-lightweight title for the fourth time against Stevenson at the legendary Madison Square Garden on Saturday, January 31. Stevenson returned to the ring on July 12, triumphing over Mexico’s William Zepeda by unanimous decision, marking his third WBC lightweight title defense. On May 2, Lopez achieved his sixth consecutive victory by defeating mandatory challenger Arnold Barboza Jr. in his third defense of the WBO title. During an interview with The Schmo, Malignaggi acknowledged that while many expect Stevenson to win against Lopez, he would not be shocked if ‘The Takeover’ rises to the occasion and defeats the unbeaten American. “Yeah at first look, at first glance I mean this is Shakur Stevenson written all over it right? This is Shakur’s coming out party. This is where Shakur lives up to the expectation but there is a tricky element to this fight as well because Teofimo Lopez always saves his best performances for the moment when you write him off, for the moment when you’re ready to say okay he’s gone too far now he’s gonna lose, and his two career wins were where he’s been an underdog. “I think he’s possibly, you know, the level of a fighter that could probably be the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the sport if he would just have the right opponents in front of him to beat because he would beat them. But this is the one guy where it’s really really tricky. It’s the one guy that could really offset that is Teofimo.” The fascinating domestic showdown between Stevenson and Lopez has drawn comments from numerous other notable figures, including Ryan Garcia, who delivered a harsh assessment of what he anticipates will be the result.
Published: 2025-12-18 19:21:00
source: www.secondsout.com
