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Shakur Stevenson defeated Teofimo Lopez in a match against Britain’s Connor Benn to become a four-weight world champion.
Stevenson won by unanimous decision to win the WBO super lightweight title, winning 11 of 12 rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.
The 28-year-old remains unbeaten following the win at Madison Square Garden and was keen to have a few words for Ben who was watching from the sidelines.
“We’re going back to the drawing board, but wait a minute, there’s a fighter here tonight who inspires me. Where’s Connor Benn?! I want the same rehydration terms you put on (Chris) Eubank Jr., I want to fight!” Stevenson said.
Ben entered the ring and responded: “You’re too little for me, man, you’re too little. You can’t box, you can’t keep me away from you.”
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Connor Benn claims he ‘took his soul’ after comprehensively defeating Chris Eubank Jr in rematch, speaking to Sky Sports
The two spoke for more than a minute, with Stevenson telling Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn that his fighter was “food,” and both fighters seemed eager to face each other next.
Benn added: “You think I’m scared of you? I’m not scared of you, man. What we can do next is go to welterweight with the big dogs. You’re a little guy.”
Ben last fought in November when he defeated Chris Eubank Jr via unanimous decision It seemed to end their family feud.
Conor Benn celebrates after defeating Chris Eubank Jr in November
How Stevenson surpassed Lopez
Stevenson entered the ring and reunited with retired multi-division champion Terrence Crawford, a consultant to the Newark, N.J., boxer.
After a long wait, Lopez’s ring walk turned into a dance routine, with Jabbawockeez joining him. Lopez can keep up with them better than Stevenson.
The game started with the Brooklyn product aggressively coming out of his corner, but Stevenson was mostly able to prevent him from getting close enough to land and was soon looking for a scoring opportunity down the left wing.
Shakur Stevenson remains unbeaten while Teofimo Lopez is defeated for second time in career
He knocked Lopez off balance with one of them in the fourth round and caught Lopez in the jaw with a couple of right punches in the sixth round, by which point it was no longer a question of if Lopez would win the fight, but if he would win the round.
Unable to match the foot speed of Stevenson’s best boxing game, Lopez was often forced to lunge forward in hopes of catching the ball, putting himself at risk of returning quicker and even harder shots. By the eighth round, the area around his left eye turned red, and by the tenth round the wound opened and blood flowed down his face.
“I feel good, I separated him, I did what I was supposed to do. Hey, look, I’m saying this is how I’ve boxed my whole career. That’s the art of boxing: Hitting and not getting hit,” Stevenson said.
“I told you I’m the best fighter on the planet and I stand by that.”
