Romero, Lopez set friendship aside for high-stakes fight
Rolando Romero and Teofimo Lopez have labeled one another friends and sparred several times together.
Now, they’re being asked to set aside their relationship and slug it out in a high-stakes scrap that will further propel the winner’s career.
Romero and Lopez came face-to-face Thursday during a press conference at Avalon in Los Angeles to begin building up interest in their August 22 bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which is set to headline a DAZN and Prime Video PPV event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
Proceedings between Romero and Lopez were cordial – and cringy – which was par for the course for two of boxing's quirkiest characters.
But out-of-the-ring personalities won’t play a part once the punches start flying, as Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) aims to defend his WBA welterweight title for the first time against the former two-division champion Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs), who is making his 147-pound debut.
“I have so much love for Teofimo,” Romero said. “It’s been a hard time trying to make a fight, but we know that Teofimo is gonna fight anyone. So I’m thankful that he stepped up to the plate.”
The last time Romero and Lopez shared a dais was during the buildup of The Ring’s show in Times Square, New York, in May last year.
Romero and Lopez starred in separate fights, with the former pulling off an Upset of the Year contender and decision win against Ryan Garcia in the main event, and the latter scoring a clear unanimous decision win against Arnold Barboza on the undercard.
But Romero failed to seize momentum around the career-best win and has been stuck on the sidelines ever since.
Potential fights against Garcia, Manny Pacquiao, Devin Haney and Conor Benn dragged along and failed to come to fruition.
“I feel really good right now,” Romero said. “I miss this. I miss boxing. I miss all this stuff. I don't do this for anything other than the love of the sport.”
Lopez meanwhile fought in January, only to lose a landslide unanimous decision against Shakur Stevenson.
“It's time to put up or shut up,” Lopez said. “We're at a point in time in my career where everything is at stake, truthfully. Was I just good in the beginning of my career and this is the end of my career? Or is this now the start of something new? I look forward to becoming a three-weight world champion. I'm super stoked.
“To me, I always believe that I have much more. I probably haven't even touched the surface yet. I'm still 28 years young. I'm looking forward to seeing prominent years in my career. Everything is really going to be answered on August 22.”
"Rolly" Romero, a 30-year-old from Las Vegas, finally won the big one against Garcia by dropping his rival in the second round and taking him out of his game en route to cruising to a 12-round unanimous decision win.
Romero looked more polished than the reckless aggressor he was during knockout losses against Gervonta Davis in May 2022 and Isaac Cruz in March 2024.
"The Takeover" Lopez, from Brooklyn, New York, a former Ring and unified lightweight and junior welterweight champion, couldn’t add another feather in his cap by beating Stevenson the same way he did in career-best wins against Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020 and Josh Taylor in 2023.
“I faced guys that people didn't want to fight,” Lopez said. “Haney was in negotiations to fight Rolando, and that fell off – who knows why. Maybe because Rolly is a tough guy to face. I'm here to face the best competition at 147 pounds. I'm looking forward to taking over.”
Romero’s trainer Ismael Salas said Lopez is tailor-made for his charge to come out victorious in another career-defining fight.
“This is the perfect fight for Rolly because Lopez is a guy who's coming forward and always leaning with his body forward with his chin up,” Salas said. “Everybody will see. It's going to be an amazing style for us. Rolly will show how much he's improved and matured. He's a real welterweight fighting against someone coming up from 140.”
The challenger's father and head coach, Teofimo Sr., disagreed.
“Any style is better for my son when he's mentally in the fight,” he said. “Everything with my son is mental. When he's on his A-game, no one can beat him. That night against Shakur wasn't his night. It's in the past. We have to move on.”
Now, in nearly six weeks, both fighters will move on to focus on each other as they unleash pent-up aggression. The winner will catapult themselves further to being a power player in the division and remain in position for big-money fights against Garcia, Haney, et al.
“Teofimo is not my friend, he's my little brother,” Romero said. “He's a Hall of Famer, for sure, already. I'm a future Hall of Famer. If I'm to lose this belt, or defend it, whatever, I'd rather it be with him than anyone else. Only God knows what's going to happen.”
BREAKING: Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez have agreed to a deal to fight for Romero’s WBA welterweight title, sources tell The Ring’s @MikeCoppinger.
