Lopez Reigns Supreme: Dethrones Romero for WBA Title, Becomes Triple-Weight Champ!

Teofimo Lopez achieved a significant milestone Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, becoming a three-division world champion. In his welterweight debut, Lopez captured the WBA welterweight title by defeating his former friend and sparring partner, Rolando "Rolly" Romero, via majority decision. The judges' scores were 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112 in favor of Lopez, marking an impressive comeback after his previous lopsided decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in a WBO super lightweight title fight in January.

Lopez, 29, reflected on his victory, stating, "I need to tell you guys, if you lose and you come back, then you never lost because you're a winner. I'm a winner. I'm a true example of what winning is, and it ain't about losing. It's about never giving up."

For Rolando Romero, this fight marked his first appearance since claiming the WBA title in an upset decision over Ryan Garcia in May 2025. It is unclear if his 15-month layoff affected his performance, but he struggled to match Lopez's pace and timing in the latter half of the bout. According to Compubox statistics, Lopez landed 124 of 530 total punches, while Romero landed only 73 of 352, including just two in the final round.

Despite the punch disparity, Romero expressed strong disagreement with the judges' decision, calling it a "robbery." He claimed, "I got hit with two punches the whole fight that barely grazed me. I was never in any trouble. When I heard 114-114, I knew it was a robbery."

The fight saw some critical moments, with Romero knocking Lopez off-balance with a counter left hook in the fourth round and visibly hurting him with a right hand in the fifth. However, Lopez quickly recovered, responding with some of his most effective work in the sixth and seventh rounds. Lopez landed 62 jabs and 124 shots to the body throughout the fight. He commented on Romero's performance, noting, "He was calculated, staying composed and listening to his corner. We had to go push the fight if need be. There was a shot he hit me with that woke me up, and I told him, 'You got to do better than that.' I just kept saying, 'You ain't going to take me out. It's not that easy.'"

With this victory, Teofimo Lopez now has several compelling options in the welterweight division. Potential opponents include WBO champion Devin Haney, the winner of the upcoming WBC clash between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn, and IBF champion Liam Paro. The current WBA mandatory challenger is regular champion Jack Catterall. Romero's loss to Lopez is his first since being stopped by Isaac Cruz in March 2024.