Teofimo Lopez details backstage incident with Shakur Stevenson that led to the Ring VI

On Saturday night from Madison Square Garden, live on DAZN PPV, Teofimo Lopez puts his Ring Magazine and WBO super lightweight titles at stake against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. The road to Saturday's championship clash between two of boxing's best began inside the locker room of Stevenson before his November 2023 fight with Edwin De Los Santos in Las Vegas. 

It was his son's birthday, but Lopez wanted to go wish his then-stablemate good luck, watch the fight, and then return home to spend the remainder of the day with his family. But when Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) got backstage, he felt something different coming from Stevenson. 

Buy now here: Ring 6 - Lopez vs. Stevenson PPV for $69.99 / £24.99 or get a two PPV bundle for 20% off 

After seeing the video, Lopez knew he was right in his assertion of what he felt on that November evening inside T-Mobile Arena.

"I was just wishing the dude luck. Do your thing," Lopez explained to DAZN News. "It was my son's birthday. I told the wife, I said, 'Hey, listen, I'm going to go see him real quick. I'm going to go see the fight'.

"But I didn't see the fight. I went there. I spoke with Floyd Mayweather for like 20 minutes. And then Wali (Moses), his grandfather (and trainer), took me to the back. Mind you, all them other people that's in the locker room don't really mess with me. But I go in there thorough. I keep it like it is. But Wali is very good at letting people know. They all respect him. So they're all going to let me get in. So I thank him for that. I see Shakur. 

"Then the first thing he says is, 'Man, you look small. You small.' And I said, 'What the.. man, you got to focus on De Los Santos. You (are) focusing on the wrong things right now. You're about to get up in there'. But that's me in my head saying that. So I didn't think too much more of it. I said, 'All right, do your thing man'.

"I go, and after that, afterwards, I'm sitting there for a little bit longer. Once he gets in the ring, I see J-Prince, his manager, and I see Antonio as well, his co-manager. I see them, I nod, and then I leave. I head home before the first bell rang."

Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) won the fight by unanimous decision to capture the WBC title, but the fight left a lot of fans frustrated. It's one fight that Lopez was glad to leave because he got to spend more precious time with his son. 

"I'm very happy I left," Lopez laughed. "I would've been pissed. I would've really been upset. I came to see the fights, and I see that at the end. Missed my son's, the rest of my son's night with me for his birthday. I'm glad I went back home."

Get Ring 6 PPV included with DAZN Ultimate Tier for major savings

DAZN's Ultimate Tier subscription package includes a minimum of 12 PPVs a year, on top of the regular 185 fight nights offering.

Therefore, signing up to DAZN Ultimate Tier would include Ring 6: Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson PPV, and the Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia PPV on February 21. This means you would not need to purchase these PPVs individually at an extra cost. 

Better still, more DAZN PPV events are expected to be revealed soon, which would also be included in the DAZN Ultimate Tier.

US customers can sign up for Ultimate Tier now for   $44.99 per month.  UK customers can subscribe for £24.99 per month.

Based on buying 12 PPVs per year, having an Ultimate Tier subscription instead can save $535 / £320 a year alone**. 

**Savings calculated by comparing 12 months of DAZN Monthly Flex plus 12 pay-per-view events per year against 12 months of DAZN Ultimate at launch price.