Teofimo Lopez beat Rolly Romero in Las Vegas on Saturday night to capture the WBA welterweight title and become a three-division world champion.
In his welterweight debut, Lopez secured a majority decision over his friend and sparring partner at the T-Mobile Arena. One judge scored the bout 114-114, while the other two had it 115-113 and 116-112 for Lopez.
It was an impressive return to form from Lopez after his 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 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."
In what was Romero's first appearance since taking the WBA title in an upset decision over Ryan Garcia in May 2025, he landed just 73 of 352 punches thrown, according to Compubox. Lopez landed 124 of 530 total punches.
"I got hit with two punches the whole fight that barely grazed me," said an outraged Romero after suffering his first loss since an eighth-round defeat to Isaac Cruz in March 2024. "I was never in any trouble. When I heard 114-114, I knew it was a robbery."
Romero knocked Lopez off-balance with a counter left hook in the fourth round and had him visibly hurt with a right hand in the fifth, but Lopez recovered quickly and responded with some of his best work in the sixth and seventh rounds.
"I expected something similar to this, just a little more combinations from [him]," said Lopez, who sparred with Romero multiple times in his amateur and early-professional career.
"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.'"
The 29-year-old has plenty of potential options in his new division, including WBO champion Devin Haney, the winner of next month's WBC clash between Garcia and Conor Benn, and IBF champion Liam Paro.
The current WBA mandatory challenger is Jack Catterall.
