Teofimo Lopez climbed off the canvas of a career nadir and outpointed Rolando “Rolly” Romero over 12 rounds at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night, winning the WBA welterweight title and becoming a three-division world champion.
Lopez took a majority decision: Tim Cheatham scored it 116-112, Max DeLuca 115-113, and Glenn Feldman had it even at 114-114. Romero, who won the vacant belt by dropping and outpointing Ryan Garcia in May 2025 and had never defended it, dropped to 17-2. Lopez improved to 23-2 with 13 knockouts.
The fight turned in the fifth round, when Romero landed a left hook that badly buzzed Lopez and opened a cut over his right eye. Lopez survived the crisis, then outworked Romero behind a high-volume jab and body attack the rest of the way. Former friends and sparring partners before the fight, the two produced a tense, tactical affair that never quite caught fire until Lopez pulled away down the stretch.
The victory completes a rapid redemption arc for Lopez, who lost his WBO and Ring junior-welterweight titles to Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 31. Seven months later, he joins an elite club: he previously held the IBF, WBA (Super), WBO and Ring lightweight belts after beating Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020, then the WBO and Ring junior-welterweight straps after dethroning Josh Taylor in 2023.
“If you lose and you come back, you never lost, because you’re a winner. I’m a winner. I’m a true example of what winning is. It ain’t about losing, it’s about never giving up,” Lopez said afterward. He also revealed he is expecting a baby and planned to take “father time.”
The win opens a path toward a potential superfight with the winner of the Garcia-Benn matchup expected in September. Among the sport’s rarest company at three divisions, Lopez still trails the benchmark set by eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao.
