Shakur Stevenson dominates Teofimo Lopez to become a 4-division champion

NEW YORK (AP) — Shakur Stevenson made it sound easy and look even easier.

He dominated Teofimo Lopez to win a title in a fourth weight class, taking a unanimous decision Saturday night to capture the WBO junior welterweight belt.

“This is the art of boxing,” Stevenson said. “Hit, don’t get hit and pick guys apart.”

Stevenson (25-0) may have mastered that combination as well as anyone in boxing right now.

The unbeaten southpaw was in control the whole way, hardly getting hit in the early rounds and opening a cut over Lopez's left eye later in the bout. All three judges scored the fight 119-109, giving just one round to Lopez.

“I picked him apart, I did what I was supposed to do,” Stevenson said.

Lopez (22-2) tried to press the action, but too often all that accomplished was leaving himself open to Stevenson's counter punches.

The current WBC lightweight champion added the 140-pound belt that Lopez held and will be tough to beat no matter which weight class he opts to remain in. Stevenson traded words in the ring afterward with Conor Benn, the British fighter who has largely fought as a welterweight.

Turki Alalshikh, whose Ring Magazine promoted the event, tweeted that the attendance of 21,324 was a record for a boxing event at the current Madison Square Garden, opened in 1968. The crowd that roared for both local fighters in the minutes before the bout didn’t have many chances to get loud once it began. It was clear early that Stevenson’s style, effective but not especially exciting, was going to control the fight.

Unable to match what might be Stevenson's best-in-boxing foot speed, Lopez was often forced to lunge forward in hopes of connecting, putting himself at risk for shots that came back faster and even most times harder. The area around his left eye was red by the eighth round and blood streamed down his face after a cut opened in the 10th.

Lopez had little explanation for why the fight went so poorly for him.

“I could say a lot of things. Still going to be the wrong thing,” he said.

Stevenson entered the ring and reunited with Terence Crawford, the retired multidivision champion who is an adviser to the Newark, New Jersey, fighter.

There was then a lengthy wait before Lopez’s ring walk turned into a dance performance, as he was joined by the Jabbawockeez.

Lopez kept up with them better than with Stevenson.

The Brooklyn product came aggressively out of his corner when the fight began, but Stevenson was mostly able to keep him from getting close enough to land much and soon began to find openings to score with lefts. He knocked Lopez off balance with one of them in the fourth round, caught him right on the chin with a couple of right jabs in the sixth, and by then it was becoming no longer a question if Lopez would win the fight but if he would even win a round.

Stevenson was better than a 3-to-1 favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, but two of Lopez’s finest performances had come as the underdog in title fights. The first came when he beat Vasiliy Lomachenko in a 135-pound bout in 2020, and he knocked off former undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor in 2023.

But Stevenson might be in a different class than even those greats. He also has held belts at featherweight and super featherweight with his top defensive skills and just as much offense as he needs. He said he not only felt faster than Lopez, but surprisingly also stronger.

It was a good night for Brooklyn boxers earlier in the event.

Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (17-0, 10 KOs) won the WBC featherweight title by knocking out Carlos Castro in the ninth round. Heavyweight Jarrell Miller overcame a mid-fight hair misfunction to edge Kingsley Ibeh by split decision and improve to 27-1.

Ibeh landed a flurry of shots in the second round and one knocked Miller’s head backward, and his hairpiece popped upward from the front, revealing a large bald spot that covered most of his head.

Miller finished the round with the hairpiece, then ripped it off in his corner between rounds and tossed it into the crowd.

Also, former lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis (14-0, 10 KOs) made an impressive move up to 140 pounds, knocking Jamaine Ortiz down twice and stopping him in the 12th round. Davis then indicated he wants to move up again to face welterweight champion Devin Haney.

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing

CORRECTS THE NAME TO SHAKUR, NOT SHADUR - Shakur Stevenson waits for the start of a super lightweight title boxing match against Teofimo Lopez Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

CORRECTS THE NAME TO SHAKUR, NOT SHADUR - Teofimo Lopez walks toward the ring with the The Jabbawockeez for a super lightweight title boxing match against Shakur Stevenson Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

CORRECTS THE NAME TO SHAKUR, NOT SHADUR - Shakur Stevenson gestures before a super lightweight title boxing match against Teofimo Lopez Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Shadur Stevenson waits for the start of a super lightweight title boxing match against Teofimo Lopez Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Shadur Stevenson, right, fights Teofimo Lopez during a super lightweight title boxing match Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Teofimo Lopez walks toward the ring with the The Jabbawockeez for a super lightweight title boxing match against Shadur Stevenson Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Shadur Stevenson gestures before a super lightweight title boxing match against Teofimo Lopez Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Shadur Stevenson, left, fights Teofimo Lopez during a super lightweight title boxing match Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Keyshawn Davis, left, punches Jamaine Ortiz during a super lightweight boxing match Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Kingsley Ibeh, right, punches Jarrell Miller during a heavyweight boxing match Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bruce Carrington celebrates as the referee counts for Carlos Castro during a featherweight title boxing match Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Charlotte's surge to at least the play-in tournament and possibly the playoffs in the Eastern Conference has been fueled in large part by the 3-point shot.

And by season's end, it's well within reach that the top two 3-point shooters in the NBA this season — at least in terms of makes — both might be wearing Hornets uniforms.

Charlotte rookie Kon Knueppel leads the NBA with his Hornets-record 261 made 3s so far this season, and LaMelo Ball is currently third in the league with 243 makes from beyond the arc. Between them: the Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic, who is set to miss some time with a hamstring injury.

Knueppel already has the NBA record for 3s made by a rookie as well.

“He definitely needs to celebrate,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said.

If Knueppel and Ball finish 1-2 in the final standings for made 3s, they would become the second set of teammates in NBA history to hold down the top two spots on that list for a full season. The other, as one would likely guess, were the “Splash Brothers” — Golden State's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who finished first and second in the season standings in four consecutive seasons from 2013-14 through 2016-17 (and nearly did it in 2012-13 as well).

Other pairings have come close. Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce were second and third in made 3s for Boston in 2001-02 (behind Ray Allen, the then-future Celtic who was playing for Milwaukee at the time). And in 1992-93, Phoenix's Dan Majerle tied Indiana's Reggie Miller for the made-3s title, with Suns teammate Danny Ainge finishing third.

Here's what we know so far regarding the NBA playoff field for this season.

— Eastern Conference playoff teams: Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Philadelphia would get the other two guaranteed spots but those are not clinched.

— East play-in teams: Nobody is locked into the play-in yet, but entering Friday, the four teams headed there are Toronto, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami.

— East eliminated teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn and Washington.

— Western Conference playoff teams: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver and Houston are in. Minnesota is likely to grab the sixth and final guaranteed spot.

— West play-in teams: Phoenix is probably going to the play-in tournament. Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State definitely are.

— West eliminated teams: Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento.

— Hornets 127, Suns 107: Charlotte clinches no worse than a .500 record.

— Pistons 113, Timberwolves 108: Detroit closing in on East No. 1 seed.

— Thunder 139, Lakers 96: Luka Doncic hurt, Lakers tie 7th-biggest loss in team history.

— Cavaliers 118, Warriors 111: Cleveland on brink of clinching top-4 seed.

— Trail Blazers 118, Pelicans 106: Portland made 20 3s, New Orleans made nine.

— Spurs 118, Clippers 99: Victor Wembanyama sits, Spurs win 11th straight anyway.

— Indiana at Charlotte: A winning record this season is going to get Hornets’ coach Charles Lee some award votes.

— Minnesota at Philadelphia: Massive implications seeding-wise for both teams.

— Atlanta at Brooklyn: Hawks closing in on Southeast Division title, possibly No. 5 seed.

— Chicago at New York: Knicks nearing the 50-win mark yet again.

— Utah at Houston: The Rockets know they can’t afford a slipup in this spot.

— Toronto at Memphis: Raptors need a few wins down the stretch to avoid play-in.

— Boston at Milwaukee: Bucks coach Doc Rivers faces his former team, a day before expected Hall of Fame formal announcement.

— Orlando at Dallas: Magic coach Jamahl Mosley enjoyed a lot of nights when he was on the Mavs’ staff. He desperately needs one of those good nights here.

— New Orleans at Sacramento: A pair of teams building for the future.

— Washington at Miami: Bam Adebayo scored 83 against the Wizards last month. The rematch!

— San Antonio at Denver: Wembanyama vs. Nikola Jokic in potential West playoff pairing.

— Detroit at Philadelphia: Sorry, Detroit. Michigan-Arizona Final Four game tips off during this one.

Friday on NBA TV: Chicago-New York.

Saturday on Prime: San Antonio-Denver.

Saturday on NBA TV: Detroit-Philadelphia.

Oklahoma City (+135) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Boston (+550), San Antonio (+550), Denver (+1100), Cleveland (+1200) and New York (+1600). Detroit, on its way to the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500.

— April 10: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.

— April 12: All 30 teams play their regular season finales.

— April 14, 15 and 17: NBA play-in tournament dates.

— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.

— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

The Thunder had 14 different players score in their win over the Lakers on Thursday night. There have been only seven games in NBA history, including playoffs, where a team saw more players score at least one point in the same game.

The Spurs are 27-2 since Feb. 1 — and have picked up only 3 1/2 games on Oklahoma City (23-5) in that span. (By the way, the best record in the East since that date belongs to Atlanta at 20-6.)

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, left, struggles to field a pass as Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) looks for a play against Utah Jazz guard John Konchar (55) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) holds the ball away from Utah Jazz guard John Konchar during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson, left, is fouled by Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Toronto Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl (front) is fouled by Orlando Magic centre Goga Bitadze (back left) as Magic forward Paolo Banchero (right) looks on during first half NBA action in Toronto on Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, right, drives against Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)