Stevenson doesn’t think even Lopez himself believes he’ll get the unbeaten WBC lightweight champion to submit in their bout for Lopez’s Ring and WBO junior welterweight titles. From what Stevenson experienced in his interactions with Lopez during fight week, the weight of the fast-approaching moment seemingly is getting to him.

“I think he’s nervous, and he’s giving off energy as if he’s trying to delude his brain into believing things that are basically not gonna happen,” Stevenson told The Ring. “I just don’t know how he can delude his brain into believing that, when he didn’t make Steve Claggett — that’s his name, Steve Claggett — quit? He didn’t make him quit. He didn’t make George Kambosos quit. He did not make [Vasiliy] Lomachenko quit. So what in the world makes him think that he’s gonna make me quit?"

Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs), ranked seventh on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, hasn’t lost since Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez beat him by split decision in the 123-pound gold medal match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The reigning WBC lightweight champ will make his junior welterweight debut when he opposes Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs), a former unified lightweight champ who is 6-0 since he moved up from the 135-pound division 3½ years ago.

Australia’s Kambosos upset Lopez by split decision in November 2021 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden, which prompted him to move up five pounds. Lopez outclassed Claggett in June 2024, but he couldn’t finish the Canadian veteran, who lost by huge margins on all three scorecards (120-108, 120-108 and 119-109).

Each of Lopez’s past five fights have gone the distance. Only two of Stevenson’s most recent seven bouts resulted in knockouts, which increases the likelihood of this bout between 28-year-old champions lasting all 12 rounds.

DraftKings lists Stevenson as more than a 3-1 favorite over Lopez. The Brooklyn-born Lopez was an underdog against Ukraine’s Lomachenko in October 2020 as well, though that didn’t stop him from defeating the now-retired three-division champ unanimously on points (119-109, 117-111, 116-112).

DAZN will distribute “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).