Shakur Stevenson respects Vasiliy Lomachenko and everything the three-division champion accomplished throughout his celebrated career.

The ever-confident Stevenson is certain nonetheless that he is better than the legendary Ukrainian southpaw, particularly the version of Lomachenko that Teofimo Lopez upset in October 2020. The two most significant victories of Lopez’s career came against left-handed opponents in Lomachenko, who was a unified lightweight champion at that time, and Josh Taylor, a former undisputed junior welterweight champ.

Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) promised Lopez during their press conference Wednesday at Madison Square Garden that he won’t add another top southpaw to his list of conquests.

“Teo not on this level,” Stevenson said. “Teo’s a high-level fighter, but he’s not on my level. I’m a elite-level fighter and come January 31st, Imma show it.”

DAZN’s Chris Mannix, who moderated the press conference for “The Ring 6” main event next month, asked Stevenson to elaborate on why he believes he is a level above Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs).

“Because I seen him at his best,” Stevenson explained. “Against Taylor, against Lomachenko, he was at his very best. That was the best he can do. I don’t think he can do nothing better than that, so what I seen from [those fights], I feel like I’m way better than them guys.

“With Lomachenko, like I said, he didn’t throw punches for six rounds – for six rounds. So, if you ain’t throw punches for six rounds, and you get in front of me, I just don’t know [what he can do]. I woulda beat Lomachenko that night easy, too. That’s how I feel.”

Lomachenko got off to a slow start when he opposed Lopez. The two-time Olympic gold medalist’s rally during the second half of their 12-round, 135-pound championship clash wasn’t nearly enough to avoid a unanimous points loss (119-109, 117-111, 116-112).

Scotland’s Taylor suffered a definitive defeat to Lopez in June 2023 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. A sharp Lopez topped Taylor by scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113.

Lopez will defend The Ring and WBO junior welterweight crowns he won from Taylor against Stevenson, who owns the WBC lightweight title.

Stevenson, an Olympic silver medalist in 2016, previously won world titles in the featherweight and junior lightweight divisions. The Newark, New Jersey native is ranked eighth on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.

FanDuel established Stevenson as more than a 2-1 favorite over Lopez, a former Ring/IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champ. The 12-round, 140-pound title bout between these 28-year-old rivals will headline a DAZN Pay-Per-View event.