Teofimo Lopez defeated Rolly Romero by majority decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night to capture the WBA welterweight title.
The victory in his welterweight debut makes the 29-year-old Lopez a three-division world champion. One judge scored the contest 114-114, while the other two officials saw it 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Lopez.
The outcome provided an impressive return to form for Lopez, who was coming off a loss to Shakur Stevenson in their WBO super lightweight title fight in January.
The 147-pound welterweight division is one of professional boxing's traditional weight classes, sitting above super lightweight. The World Boxing Association (WBA) is one of boxing's major sanctioning bodies alongside the WBC, WBO, and IBF. Lopez previously held world titles at lightweight and super lightweight before moving up to welterweight.
Fight statistics and middle round action
The bout marked Romero's first appearance in the ring since winning the WBA belt in an upset decision victory over Ryan Garcia in May 2025. Facing his friend and former sparring partner, Romero struggled to match his opponent's overall work rate over 12 rounds.
According to punch statistics from Compubox, Romero landed just 73 of the 352 punches he threw during the fight. Lopez connected on 124 of his 530 total punches.
Romero created moments of danger midway through the fight despite the lower punch totals. He knocked Lopez off-balance with a counter left hook in the fourth round and had Lopez visibly hurt with a right hand in the fifth round.
Lopez recovered quickly from the fifth-round trouble and responded with some of his best work during the sixth and seventh rounds.
Post-fight reactions and robbery claim
Romero expressed outrage at the judging after suffering his first defeat since an eighth-round loss to Isaac Cruz in March 2024.
"I got hit with two punches the whole fight that barely grazed me," Romero said after the fight. "I was never in any trouble. When I heard 114-114, I knew it was a robbery."
Lopez offered a different perspective on his own performance and recovery after the decision was announced.
"I need to tell you guys, if you lose and you come back, then you never lost because you're a winner," Lopez said afterwards. "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."
Lopez also referenced his long history of sparring with Romero during their amateur and early-professional careers.
"I expected something similar to this, just a little more combinations from [him]," Lopez said. "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.'"
Future opponents and mandatory challenger
The 29-year-old champion now has several potential high-profile options available in his new weight class.
Potential future opponents include WBO champion Devin Haney, IBF champion Liam Paro, and the winner of next month's WBC clash between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn.
Lopez also faces a potential title defense against the division's mandatory contender. The current WBA mandatory challenger is Jack Catterall.
