"Shakur Stevenson’s Five-Year-Old Boxing Prodigy Holds the Key to Defeating Teofimo Lopez at Legendary MSG"

SHAKUR STEVENSON has a secret five-year-old boxing mastermind in his corner.

The 28-year-old southpaw genius swapped his Floyd Mayweather-inspired counterpunch style for a gun-slinging shootout with Mexican dangerman William Zepeda last time out.

Shakur Stevenson will go toe-to-toe with Teofimo LopezCredit: Shutterstock Editorial They are set to lock horns at Madison Square GardenCredit: Shutterstock Editorial

And will need similarly sized balls to beat WBO super-lightweight world champ Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

But he revealed to SunSport that daughter Leilani – who went viral after the July victory for warning daddy he nearly got knocked out – has already devised the winning strategy.

The three-weight hero said: “I love that video.

“She’s given me the game plan for this fight too, I might put the video out after the fight.

“She said: ‘Punch him hard and don’t let him hit you’.”

Implementing such simple instructions – and making it seem effortless – is part of what has made the leftie such a formidable champion.

Twenty four good men have tried and failed to derail the Newark hype train, but Stevenson has rolled right through them.

And even former undisputed super-light king Josh Taylor – who lost to Lopez in 2023 – told SunSport’s No Glove Lost show that .

“Oh, that’s crazy,” he laughed at our revelation.

“I’ve been talking s*** about Taylor because he was talking s*** about me, so I kind of just returned the favour.

“But, if that’s true, much respect to and I take my s*** talk back.”

The Ring and DAZN are billing the Madison Square Garden duel as a battle for New York bragging rights.

But Newark’s best points out that moved out of his manor 22 years ago for far sunnier climbs.

The weight-jumping challenger said: “He’s not from New York.

“That’s real, we’re not from similar areas, I’m from Jersey, he’s from Florida.

“And that’s the facts of the situation.

“I try not to get on camera and just give y’all lies and try to act like it, just because it’s a big fight and we want to sell the fight. No.

“He’s from Florida. I’m from Jersey.”