Lopez wrests Romero's title, now 3-weight champ

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  Brett OkamotoAug 23, 2026, 12:56 AM ET

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  Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.

LAS VEGAS -- Teofimo Lopez became a three-division world champion on Saturday night, when he captured the WBA welterweight title over his former friend and sparring partner Rolando "Rolly" Romero at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In his welterweight debut, Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) held up well to Romero's power en route to a majority decision. One judge scored the 147-bout 114-114, while the other two had it 115-113 and 116-112 for Lopez.

It was an impressive bounce-back for Lopez following his lopsided decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in their WBO super lightweight title fight in January.

"I need to tell you guys, if you lose and you come back, then you never lost because you're a winner," Lopez said. "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 Romero (17-3, 13 KOs), it was his first appearance since he claimed the WBA title in an upset decision over Ryan Garcia in May 2025. It's difficult to say whether the 15-month layoff hurt Romero's performance, but he nevertheless struggled to keep up with Lopez's pace and timing in the second half of the fight.

According to Compubox, Lopez landed 124 of 530 total punches compared with 73 of 352 landed by Romero.