Shakur Stevenson once again proved his elite level this past weekend, defeating Teofimo Lopez and barely breaking a sweat. Next, he aims to make weight again to fight Connor Benn.

Stevenson won all but one round on three scorecards to become a four-weight world championnegating any threat Lopez posed at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.

After the fight, he faced off against Benn – who was coming off a win over Chris Eubank Jr. but had yet to compete at a world championship level – showing that he was willing to move up a level to beat him.

talking IFL TV After the win, Hall of Famer Andre Ward – Stevenson’s friend and mentor – assessed the idea of ​​the fight and thought his opponent would win easily despite his weight disadvantage.

“Of course (I loved that fight). Conor is always dangerous. He’s going to step up, but, man, it’s going to look a lot like (Lopez winning). That’s no disrespect to Conor Benn. I respect what he does and the way he does it, but (Shakur’s) skill set is different.”

While both men performed well, the rehydration clause was a hindrance. Stevenson insisted that he wanted Ben to weigh no more than 157 pounds on the morning of the fight, 10 pounds above the welterweight limit. Even though Eubank faced the same stipulation in both of their middleweight fights, Benn wasn’t keen on it.

This is a deal breaker, with Benn likely facing the winner of Rolando Romero or Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia for the world title. Stevenson has a number of options, including a return to lightweight.