Teofimo Lopez Picks Gervonta Davis Over Shakur Stevenson — With a Catch

Teofimo Lopez has shared a ring with both men, and he's landed on a winner. Asked to call a hypothetical Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson fight, Lopez backed 'Tank' — the 31-year-old sitting on a 30-0-1 (28 KO) record and ranked #3 at lightweight — even while admitting Stevenson is the best opponent he's ever faced. That's no small concession from a man who beat Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor to become a two-division world champion.

The context sharpens the pick. Stevenson handed Lopez a one-sided unanimous-decision loss at 140 in January 2025, a result that pushed the WBO super-lightweight champ to 25-0 (11 KO) and earned him a deal with Dana White's Zuffa Boxing. Lopez rates that night above anything Lomachenko threw at him — yet he still leans Davis, and his reasoning comes from the amateur gym, where the two traded hard sparring rounds years ago.

The Stevenson Problem

Here's the tension in Lopez's take. Stevenson has beaten the best man on paper but hasn't landed his most wanted fight. There's no confirmed opponent, date or venue for his next outing, though talk of a unification bout with WBA 140 titlist Gary Antuanne Russell (19-1, 17 KO) has surfaced for later this year. Fans, though, keep circling back to Davis.

The catch with Davis is simple: he hasn't fought since March 2025. That's the controversial majority-decision draw with Lamont Roach Jr. — a result that stopped his unbeaten run at a blemish without actually costing him a loss. For a 31-year-old with 28 knockouts, that's a long, odd gap to explain.

What's Actually Next

Instead of Stevenson, Davis is now being linked to a comeback against George Kambosos Jr., who's coming off an eighth-round stoppage loss to Richardson Hitchins (20-0, 8 KO) in June 2025. That's a soft re-entry rather than a defining test — and it tells you where the real money fight sits, even if the paperwork doesn't.

So Lopez's verdict is less a prediction than a snapshot of the division's logjam. He thinks Tank wins. He also knows Stevenson is the sharper technician he couldn't solve. Until one of them signs a contract, that gap between the best fighter and the bigger draw stays exactly where it is.