Boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Shakur Stevenson rises into top five with dominant win over Teofimo Lopez

Stevenson showcased brilliant skill in dismantling a previously ranked pound-for-pound great

It's one thing to refer to a fighter like Shakur Stevenson as a future pound-for-pound king in waiting. And it's another thing altogether for said fighter to take on one of the best boxers in the sport and make it look as if he doesn't belong in the ring with him. 

That's exactly what Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs), the slick southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, did last Saturday when he moved up to a fourth weight class and dominantly captured the WBO and RING title at 140 pounds from fellow top 10 P4P fighter Teofimo Lopez Jr.

The 28-year-old Stevenson won 11 of 12 rounds on all three scorecards in an absolutely masterful performance as he stood directly in front of the athletic and explosive Lopez yet was largely untouched for the entirety of the fight's 36 minutes. On the flipside, Stevenson bloodied the left eye of Lopez and simply left him out of answers by routinely catching him clean while working behind his educated jab. 

While Stevenson was a firm betting favorite coming in given his pedigree as a defensive wizard with quick hands and every boxing tool in the book, few could've expected the fight to play out as one-sided as it ultimately did. Not only did Stevenson make a leap toward the front of the pack in the P4P top 10, his performance teased the idea that commandeering the top spot could be inevitable, provided more big names agree to fight against him. 

With the victory, Stevenson became the quickest boxer to attain world titles in four different divisions in boxing history as the 2016 Olympic silver medalist proved that he could carry his size and skills up to 140 pounds without needing to alter his style or rely on movement. It must be said even a second time: Stevenson never ran from Lopez. He stood firm in the pocket and countered clean from start to finish without absorbing as much as a scratch in return.