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Lopez Jr. vs. Stevenson: A look back at five electrifying fights Lopez had at Madison Square Garden
The consummate showman, Teofimo Lopez Jr. especially loves performing at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” Madison Square Garden. In fact, the legendary site is where the Brooklyn, New Yorker has delivered plenty of memorable moments.
On the brink of Lopez defending his WBO super lightweight and The Ring world titles against Shakur Stevenson at MSG, and live on DAZN PPV, at Ring VI on Saturday night, DAZN News looks back to five electrifying performances involving ‘The Takeover’ at “The Mecca of Boxing.”
A star is born as Lopez crushes Mason Menard in less than a minute; December 2018
Appearing on the ESPN-televised main card headlined by Vasiliy Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez Jr. showed how entertaining he could be when given a primetime opportunity.
Lopez, then 21, hit liftoff to his star power by brutally knocking Mason Menard out in 44 seconds inside the Hulu Theater at MSG.
After his overhand right slumped and slept Menard instantly, Lopez did a Fortnite dance, hit a backflip and flashed the Heisman pose while rocking the jersey of that year’s Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray. Just like that, a star was born.
Lopez builds more momentum with another punctuating stoppage; April 2019
Just a few months after devastating Menard, Lopez returned to Madison Square Garden — this time appearing on the undercard for Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan. Again, he dazzled, disposing of veteran Edis Tatli in the fifth round.
But it was the way he did it which turned heads for Lopez fired what looked to be a routine stab jab, except he loaded up on the blow and the body shot crumpled Tatli. Another highlight reel win.
‘The Takeover’ becomes a world champion; December 2019
Lopez crouched all the way down, rose up and planted his feet, unloading with a compact right hook that put Richard Commey on jelly legs stumbling around the ring.
Commey bravely got to his feet, but the end was near as Lopez unleashed a barrage of punches to cap a sensational second-round TKO and coronate himself as the new IBF lightweight world champion.
The rousing victory sent his star power further into orbit. Absolutely scintillating.
George Kambosos Jr. shocks Lopez at MSG; November 2021
After upsetting Vasiliy Lomachenko to become the new unified lightweight world champion a year prior, Lopez’s ‘Takeover’ was complete.
But what appeared on paper as a routine championship defense against a rugged but considerable underdog in Australian fighter George Kambosos Jr. turned into a nightmare as the headlining bout inside Hulu Theater at MSG.
Kambosos Jr.’s shocking Lopez with an outrageous overhand right that dropped the unified champ served as foreshadowing for the eventual outcome — a split-decision mega upset for the Australian that nobody saw coming.
After the bout, ESPN reported that Lopez actually fought the bout with pneumomediastinum where air dangerously fills areas it's not supposed to be such as pockets of his chest, heart and neck.
Despite this ailment, Lopez did battle back into the fight and arguably did enough to win it, even dropping Kambosos in the 10th round.
Lopez suffered his first and only pro loss that memorable night, though he’d bounce back admirably.
Lopez becomes a two-division world champion by dethroning Josh Taylor; June 2023
Lopez was in need of a rebuild after being upset and losing his unified lightweight crown and ‘The Takeover’ responded by setting his sights on conquering a new division — super lightweight.
After notching two wins at 140 pounds, Lopez earned the right to challenge for Josh Taylor’s WBO and The Ring world titles. Taylor was previously undefeated and a load to deal with as a former undisputed king of the division.
But that didn’t deter Lopez from not only throwing rocks at the throne, but seizing the crown for himself. One step ahead of Taylor, Lopez outpointed the Scottish fighter with precision punching, dictating the flow of the bout toward a dominant unanimous decision inside Hulu Theater at MSG to become a two-division world champion.
‘The Takeover’ has been owner of the WBO and The Ring titles since and he will try to keep it that way on Saturday night against Shakur Stevenson, live on DAZN PPV.
Watch López vs. Stevenson only on DAZN PPV
Teofimo López and Shakur Stevenson headline the Ring VI fight night in New York, exclusively on DAZN PPV, on January 31, 2026.
Purchase as a one-off PPV, or get included at no extra cost with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which includes minimum of 12 PPV events per year, plus another 185 fight nights. Monthly and annual options available.
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