Floyd Mayweather expresses his ‘strong feelings’ about upcoming Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson fight

Next month Shakur Stevenson will challenge Teofimo Lopez for the WBO welterweight world title and the Newark-born sensation has now revealed what Floyd Mayweather said to him before the fight.

Stevenson has maintained an undefeated record while moving up the weight classes, grabbing world honors at featherweight, super featherweight and currently reigning at lightweight as WBC champion.

Lopez is also a multi-weight world champion, having been the unified lightweight world champion before moving up to welterweight where he has held the WBO title for the past two years.

If Stevenson dethroned Lopez, he would become the 25th four-division world champion in boxing history and the fighter to beat at 140 pounds – hence potential unifications against fellow American Richardson Hitchins. [IBF] and Gary Antuanne Russell [WBA] could wait for it.

Speaking to Cigar Talk, Stevenson revealed that boxing legend Mayweather had been in touch ahead of his toughest professional outing to date and that ‘Money’ had told him he should be the ‘A side’ in his clash against Lopez.

“He [Mayweather] I had a lot of things to say, but I don’t like doing it [put stuff out there]. One thing he just said is that he doesn’t think I should be the B side for this next fight.

“He thinks I should be on the A side. He really wanted to, but it is what it is.”

Lopez-Stevenson is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 31 in New York, with further details regarding the venue and undercard expected shortly.