Next month, Shakur Stevenson steps up to super-lightweight for the toughest fight of his career, tasked with WBO world champion, Teofimo Lopez. Now, Roy Jones Jr has offered his thoughts ahead of the clash.
At 28-years-old, Stevenson already boasts enough achievements to enter the Hall of Fame, having become a three-division world champion after switching over to the professional scene, following his Olympic silver medal at the Rio 2016 Games.
However, the Newark-born southpaw continues to strive for further greatness and now moves up to 140lbs, where he hopes that he can be better tested against former unified lightweight champion and reigning WBO super-lightweight titlist, Lopez.
In an interview with FightHype, four-division conqueror Jones Jr revealed that he believes Lopez only has a chance of handing Stevenson a first career defeat if he is willing to ‘gamble’ during the contest.
“Stylistically, Teo has got to go in and go for broke. He has got to go gamble, he has got to take some to give some, that is his only way to win. If he stays outside and boxes, Shakur is going to pick him apart.
“Shakur is a polished boxer, he has got some of the best speed in the game right now and he is a defensive-minded fighter, which is very smart.
“He is hard to hit, you have got to gamble to hit him, and he is going to be a tough one to deal with but, if Teofimo is willing to gamble to beat him, then Teofimo can definitely give him a really good fight. It’s [about] who wants it baddest.”
Lopez-Stevenson takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York, on Saturday, January 31 and will be available to watch live on DAZN Pay-Per-View.