Teofimo Will Punish Shakur’s Body On Jan. 31

Tim Bradley expects Teofimo Lopez to target Shakur Stevenson’s body during their fight on January 31, 2026.

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

Bradley sees the game plan body first

“The optics, the way he looks when he comes forward, whether it’s on the shoulders or the chest, it doesn’t matter,” Tim Bradley said on his channel about how Teofimo Lopez will cause Shakur Stevenson problems with the pressure he will apply.

Lopez being the aggressor may not be enough to win the rounds. If the judges were only focused on giving rounds based on two or three clean shots, they could give the rounds to Stevenson. Teo will need to make sure he connects cleanly and concentrates enough shots to influence the referees. Many of them pay more attention to headshots.

Shakur’s fencing style

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

In Stevenson’s last fight against William Zepeda on July 12, he was hit to the body. Interestingly, the judges involved in the fight seemed oblivious to Zepeda’s punching. They scored 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.

Will body shots count?

Shakur fought with his back against the ropes all night, leaning his head above the ropes for protection. Zepeda was free to shoot to the body all night, which he did, but surprisingly the referees gave Stevenson almost every round. If the same referees who participated in that fight are officiating for the Lopez-Stevenson contest, Teofimo should forget about the body throw, because it will not be taken into account in the scoring.

“Teofimo can twist his body to cause himself abuse. The thing about Teo is that he’s a risk taker. Shakur has to be safe because he’s a defense-first type of fighter, and Shakur won’t use any offense unless he really feels like he’s going to go down,” Bradley said.