On January 31st, DAZN is presenting Ring VI, a stacked card that is headlined by Shakur Stevenson vs Teofimo Lopez for Lopez’s WBO and Ring Magazine 140-pound title. Each fighter is coming off of a great performance in their previous bout.

Stevenson defended his WBO lightweight title by defeating the previously undefeated William Zepeda by unanimous decision. The Newark, New Jersey native was able to silence a lot of his critics by standing in the pocket against a non-stop offensive pressure fighter like Zepeda.

Zepeda is the definition of a volume puncher, normally throwing over 90 punches per round. That type of style is one that lots of boxing fans thought would give the defensive minded Stevenson trouble. Stevenson handled the challenge in a phenomenal way by making Zepeda miss all night. He countered Zepeda consistently with sharp punches and earned the wide unanimous decision victory.

Lopez also defended his belt by defeating a previously undefeated Arnold Barboza Jr. Barboza is a quality boxer who can be described as a sharp offensive minded boxer. Lopez was able to neutralize Barboza with his athleticism. Lopez’s ability to get in and out of the pocket while being aggressive was the difference in the match-up.

In the upcoming bout Stevenson is moving up to 140 pounds to challenge Lopez for his titles. This is a very interesting bout from a stylistic standpoint. What are the keys for each fighter in this bout?

Keys to Victory for Shakur Stevenson

Take Turns At Going First

Shakur Stevenson is an amazingly gifted defensive boxer and starts from the point of defense first. Which he should but in this bout there should be times where he takes the lead and puts Lopez on the defensive.

If Stevenson is able to lead with his quick jab and disrupt the rhythm of Lopez, it will be a huge factor that could lead to a win for the former three-division champion.

Land the last punch of the exchange

Teofimo Lopez has an innate ability to make himself look like the winner of a exchange with his body language. He likes to move away from his opponent with “fancy” head, hand and footwork after exchanges that can distract the judges.

The judges are human and will miss certain things. Stevenson can’t let them mistake Lopez’s body language at the end of the exchange for actually winning the exchange. If Shakur, lands the last punch and gets out of range, the perception of the exchange is very different.

Getting Close and Personal

Teofimo Lopez likes to fight from the outside and use his athletic ability to make his opponent throw punches from out of range and then capitalize on the opponent’s mistakes.

Shakur Stevenson on the other hand is very comfortable fighting on the inside. He has the ability to “walk down” his opponents. Shakur could go forward and force Teofimo to fight off the backfoot, cut off the ring and force close exchanges.

Stevenson was able to win the end of this exchange against Zepeda in close quarters but will have to work harder to get Lopez to stay in front of him, in the same manner.

Keys to Victory for Teofimo Lopez

Don’t Follow, Dictate

Teofimo Lopez has struggled in the past against fighters who were defensive minded and moved around the ring. Lopez had trouble with Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, both of those fighters gave Lopez trouble with lateral movement. They were able to make Lopez follow them.

If Lopez follows Stevenson in the same way, he followed Martin and Ortiz around, he will lose. Stevenson is better than Martin and Ortiz and will make Lopez pay for his mistakes with sharp counter punches all night long. Lopez has to cut off the ring and also make Stevenson be the aggressor for a significant portion of the fight.

Outside Punches to the Body

Stevenson is a superb defensive boxer, which means openings for clean shots to the head will be few and far between. This is where jabs and straights to the body can be effective. The challenger will use his Philly Shell defense which can leave him vulnerable to straight body shots.

If Lopez is able to land enough of those body shots, it may open up some opportunities to target the head later in the bout.

Counter the Jab

An underrated part of Shakur Stevenson’s game is his ability to control the fight with his quick jab. Lopez has the ability to make his opponents miss and then counter. If the Brooklyn, New York native is able to take away the southpaw jab and counter with his straight right hand. It not only could win rounds for Lopez, it may lead to a knockdown.

Prediction

This fight may start slow because each fighter is a counter puncher and they both respect the other’s ability to take advantage of mistakes. The slow rounds will play into Stevenson’s hands.

The middle rounds are where Teofimo Lopez may shine. He will become more aggressive and it could take Shakur Stevenson a round or two to adjust to Lopez’s speed and timing.

The late rounds are where the better boxer normally shines and that’s where Stevenson can take control of the fight.

This will be a chess match between two great boxers with Shakur Stevenson winning by close unanimous decision.

Do you agree with my prediction? Who do you have winning?