With Brittle Hands A Concern, Shakur Stevenson’s Planned 2026 Bout Against Teofimo Lopez Remains Uncertain

Shakur Stevenson says he would fight Teofimo Lopez now, but he wants to make sure his hands are “100%” when they do meet. Their fight is being targeted for January or February 2026, provided Stevenson doesn’t experience another hand problem in training camp.

Shakur (24-0, 11 KOs) will be moving up from 135 to challenge Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) for his WBO light welterweight title. Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title will be put on hold, as well as the contenders waiting for their title shot.

Shakur says his rationale for fighting Lopez is to become great. However, he’s not done that with his career. There haven’t been any high-risk fights for Stevenson in which he came in as the underdog expected to lose.

Prioritizing ‘100%’ Hand Health

“I feel the smarter route is to make sure that my hands are 100%. Teo is a guy who is similar to me,” said Shakur Stevenson to DAZN Boxing when asked if he would prefer to fight Teofimo Lopez right away rather than waiting until January or February 2026.

Don’t be surprised if this fight gets postponed. With Shakur’s brittle hands, he might not make it through training camp without suffering an injury like last year.

Shakur was supposed to fight Joe Cordina on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard on October 12, 2024, in Riyadh. However, Stevenson suffered a right-hand injury and had to undergo surgery to repair the problem. The Cordina fight was subsequently canceled.

“He wants this. It’s not pretend. They want the fame and all the stuff that comes with it, but they don’t want greatness. Teo is one of those guys who wants greatness also,” said Shakur, talking about Lopez being similar to him in wanting to be a great fighter.

Like Shakur, Teofimo has been selective in his pursuit of greatness. He’s not fought the top fighters from the 140-lb division, Gary Antuanne Russell, Richardson Hitchins, Subriel Matias, Alberto Puello, and Keyshawn Davis.

Lopez likes to say, “Make boxing great again,” giving his vision of what he’s trying to do with his career. But he doesn’t practice that in reality. It’s just some line that he throws out, and then fights B and C-level opposition.

Money Over Legacy for Both?

Shakur is no different. He talks about wanting to be great and then chooses to fight Josh Padley, William Zepeda, and Artem Harutyunyan. Many fans view Shakur’s pursuit of a fight against Lopez as being solely about money.

Shakur speaks on fighting Teofimo! 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/bu6lUiwlqS

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 21, 2025