The junior welterweights agree, however, on the outcome of the main event of “The Ring 6” card. Ortiz and Davis predicted Shakur Stevenson will dethrone Lopez, who owns The Ring and WBO 140-pound championships. Davis naturally favors Stevenson, a close friend with whom he spent the past couple months training in Las Vegas. Ortiz lost to Lopez in one of the toughest fights of the former unified lightweight champion’s career, but “The Technician” thinks Stevenson is simply too skillful to lose to one of the most accomplished active fighters in the sport. “I think Shakur will win the main event,” Ortiz told The Ring. “I just think he’s a better boxer. It’s hard to hit him. But it’s gonna be an interesting fight. I know Teofimo. I feel like he kinda does perform better when he has better opposition. We’ll see how it goes, but I got Shakur winning.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNJnmM6hV9I Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs), a three-division champion from Newark, New Jersey, is more than a 3-1 favorite, according to DraftKings. Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs), a Brooklyn native, is 6-0 in the junior welterweight division, whereas Stevenson will be making his debut in the 140-pound weight class. Davis nevertheless expects Stevenson to frustrate Lopez by outsmarting him and making it extremely difficult to catch him with clean punches. “I feel like Shakur has one of the best IQs in boxing,” Davis told The Ring. “If I wasn’t boxing, then I would say he would have the best IQ. But since I am boxing, he has one of the best IQs in boxing. And I just feel that alone is gonna carry him to the win. Shakur’s entire career, you haven’t seen him struggle with any opponent. “The only person y’all probably can say [gave him trouble] was [Edwin] De Los Santos. But he wasn’t physically ready for that fight and he still won that fight with just using his IQ. So, I just think Shakur’s IQ alone – people wanna talk about his defense – but it’s really his IQ that makes his defense that great. It’s his mind, it’s how he thinks. So, I just think Shakur is one of the best when it comes to IQs.” That said, Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) anticipates Lopez testing Stevenson in ways no opponent has pushed him since the 2016 Olympic silver medalist made his pro debut almost nine years ago. “Teo is one of the best in boxing for sure, so it’s definitely gonna be competitive,” Davis said. “But it can be competitive, and you still could get beat clearly. I think it’s gonna be competitive, but I just think Shakur is gonna beat him convincingly.” Ortiz (20-2-1, 10 KOs) is sure the main event will unfold far differently from Lopez’s unanimous points victory over the favored Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020. Beating Lomachenko, who began his career at featherweight, changed Lopez’s life, but Ortiz contends the Ukrainian encountered size and strength disadvantages he couldn’t overcome. “He was a lot bigger and a lot stronger than Lomachenko,” Ortiz said. “And I just think Lomachenko was a little bit more timid because of Teofimo’s power. At that time, Teofimo was knocking everybody out. Josh Taylor, I just think Teofimo’s elusiveness and he plays a lot with his hands, and that probably got to Taylor. I just think Teofimo is a better fight stylistically than Josh Taylor. “I don’t think his hand play and fanciness is gonna get to Shakur. It didn’t get to me. Like what he did with Arnold Barboza, a lot of it was just handplay, just distractions. A lot of it was just trying to make it look like something, even though it’s nothing. And with an experienced fighter, that’s not gonna work.” Ortiz contends he should’ve outpointed Lopez in their title fight in February 2024. Lopez won by scores of 117-111 (Steve Weisfeld), 115-113 (Tim Cheatham) and 115-113 (David Sutherland). New Jersey’s Weisfeld has been assigned to score Lopez vs. Stevenson as well, along with New York-based judges Max De Luca and Eric Marlinski. DAZN will offer “The Ring 6” on pay-per-view to non-subscribers in the United States ($69.99) and in the United Kingdom (£24.99). It is included in DAZN’s Ultimate monthly plan for subscribers ($44.99 in the U.S.; £24.99 in the UK). Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r72rfoYwbZU