Teofimo Will Punish Shakur’s Body On Jan. 31

Tim Bradley predicts that Teofimo Lopez will target Shakur Stevenson’s body during their fight on January 31, 2026.

Bradley says he watched some of Shakur’s past fights and noted that he likes to stand in front of his opponents so he can use his “fencing” style. He’s not a risk-taker, and offensive the way WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs).

Bradley Sees a Body-First Game Plan

“The optics, the way it looks when it’s coming forward, whether on the shoulders, chest, it don’t matter,” said Tim Bradley on his channel about how Teofimo Lopez is going to give Shakur Stevenson problems with the pressure he’s going to be applying.

Lopez being the aggressor might not be enough for him to win rounds. If the judges are only focused on giving rounds based on two or three clean-landing shots, they could give the rounds to Stevenson. Teo is going to need to make sure he connects cleanly and focus enough headshots to sway the judges. Many of them pay more attention to headshots.

Shakur’s ‘Fencing’ Style 

“I’m going to tell you where he’s going because I watched a little of Shakur last night. He’s going to Shakur’s body, straight punches to the body,” said Bradley. “Shakur likes to stand directly in front. Have you ever seen fencing? They’re right in front of each other.

In Stevenson’s last fight against William Zepeda on July 12th, he was hit a lot to the body. Interestingly, the judges who worked the fight seemed oblivious to the body punching that Zepeda did. They scored it 118-110, 118-110, and 119-109.

Will Body Shots Even Count?

Shakur fought with his back against the ropes all night, leaning with his head over the ropes to protect it. Zepeda had free rein to land body shots all night, which he did, but surprisingly, the judges gave Stevenson almost every round. If the same judges who worked that fight are on duty for the Lopez-Stevenson contest, Teofimo needs to forget about throwing to the body, because it won’t be factored into the scoring.

“Teofimo can contort his body to get offense for himself. The thing about Teo is, he’s a risk-taker. Shakur has to be safe because he’s a defensive-first type of fighter, and Shakur won’t employ any offense unless he truly feels he’s going to land,” said Bradley.