Teofimo Lopez has won and lost big fights in a series of good nights and bad nights in the boxing ring. On Saturday, he fights Rolly Romero in Las Vegas for the WBA’s Super version of the welterweight title, and nobody is sure which Teo will climb through the ropes at the T-Mobile Arena.
Romero is equally inconsistent, and that is what makes the fight such an entertaining proposition; they are both capable of boxing out of their skin and are equally likely not to deliver when the lights go down.
The truth is that it will take a very good performance from the winner to walk out of the ring with the WBA bauble, which is one of 37 that the sanctioning body currently recognises in their male category. Three different men hold versions of the WBA’s welterweight title.
The pair have held several versions of world titles at different weights during the last five or six years; it is Lopez’s first fight at welterweight, and it will be the first fight for Romero since dropping and outpointingRyan Garcia in May last year.
Romero missed the chance to take full advantage of the win, which was surely a mistake. Activity is certainly not an affliction in modern boxing; it is a business where boxers wait and wait and wait for a big payday. Luckily for Romero, it came along, and the WBA rewarded his inactivity by upgrading him from regular champion to Super champion.
Garcia is fighting Conor Benn in a massive fight in Las Vegas next month, and the winner of Romero vs Lopez will inevitably be linked with a huge payday against the winner of that one. However, there is a disorderly queue of contenders holding out for the riches attached to the Garcia and Benn fight.
Lopez has held world titles at lightweight and super-lightweight and has beaten, in style, excellent fighters like Josh Taylor, Vasyl Lomachenko and several other quality boxers. His points defeat by Shakur Stevenson earlier this year only highlighted how good Stevenson is, but he was unimpressive in the 2021 loss to George Kambosos.
There were also wins where he looked uninspired; Lopez has acted like a man on the very edge in fights, his self-doubt dominating his performances. It has made for uncomfortable viewing at times.
Romero dropped Garcia last year en route to a decision win, with which he easily won the vacant title, but the stoppage defeats by Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz were disturbing. Romero was considerably lighter in both fights, and weight might have been an issue.
Romero has fought just five times in over four years, losing twice and gaining 13lb; his resume is typical of too many quality modern boxers who are simply circling and waiting for a payday. The Garcia win has kept him in the game and rightly so.
Lopez has been a young veteran for a long time, which is often a compliment in the boxing business. At just 29 years old and after 24 fights, he is still young and fresh and should be too slick for Romero.
These are the unknowns that make the fight such an attraction; can Romero repeat the Garcia form, and will Lopez enter the ring with a head full of swirling demons?
It’s a good fight, and the WBA’s gaudy belt is an irrelevance – just a tool to allow the sanctioning body to acquire a few seats and levy a few dollars for the dubious pleasure of being their champion.