Teofimo Lopez has lofty goals to kick off the new year.
They include:
- Headlining “The Ring 6” and beating Shakur Stevenson on January 31 in New York to defend his Ring and WBO junior welterweight titles.
- Stepping up three weight classes to challenge Terence Crawford, pound-for-pound king and Stevenson’s career-long confidant.
“They are trying to bring a lightweight to take over Teofimo — it's not going to happen,” Lopez said on “Inside The Ring.”
“Crawford sent out one of his little guys to do the job, and that's not going to work. I'm still going to be here, and if he's still going to be in boxing, I would love to face him right after. He is the man. I'm going to get to Crawford later on at 160. If Crawford can go up three weight classes to face Canelo Alvarez, why can't I?”
Lopez competed around Crawford ever since turning pro in 2016, but they were always in different stages of their careers. They started separating even further away from each other once Crawford moved up to 154 pounds to beat Israil Madrimov last year after an undisputed welterweight title run.
Crawford is coming off a career-best win against Alvarez in September to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) and Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) have engaged in extended beefs in recent years, and the latter could be inclined to settle the score in the ring if the fight makes sense at the time it is presented.
In the meantime, Lopez plans on scoring a statement win by stopping Stevenson.
“It's about setting a good pace from the opening rounds, and going from there,” said Lopez. “I don't see him going the 12 rounds. This is his first time moving to 140. A lot of people can say whatever they want about me not knocking them out [over my last five fights], but they don't try to fight me after feeling my power. It's for a reason. My power carries. You saw it with Arnold Barboza [in my last fight in May]. I had a good showing. He was too hesitant to commit to punches. It's going to be a rude awakening for Shakur.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan