Rolly Romero sees no edge for Teofimo Lopez before 147 bout

WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero sees no area in which Teofimo Lopez is superior to Ryan Garcia before their 147-pound meeting on Saturday. The fight will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with Romero’s confidence shaped by his May victory over Garcia.

Romero has rejected the idea that Lopez is the faster or heavier-handed opponent. His view is based on having already faced Garcia’s speed and power, and on the belief that Lopez does not offer a more difficult physical challenge in either category.

Lopez has done his best work at lightweight, where his counterpunching was more effective against smaller opponents. His move to 140 pounds brought a clear win over Josh Taylor in 2023, but that remains his last convincing performance against a leading opponent.

His results since then have been less authoritative. Jamaine Ortiz used outside boxing to make Lopez struggle, while Steve Claggett pressured him into a difficult contest. Arnold Barboza Jr. also took him into a close tactical fight before Shakur Stevenson produced a one-sided victory over Lopez.

Romero enters the contest as the naturally larger fighter and has experience exchanging punches with full-sized welterweights. He also dealt with Garcia’s speed and power without allowing that threat to stop him from applying pressure.

Lopez brings a broader selection of punches and could rely on timing, but Romero’s assessment is that those qualities will matter little if Lopez cannot force him to respect his power or keep him from moving forward. Lopez has often looked for single counterpunches in recent fights, a pattern that could give Romero chances to press him.

The jump to welterweight therefore gives Lopez a demanding task after his loss to Stevenson. Romero believes Lopez would be better suited to 135 pounds, although a return to that division would not guarantee success against its leading fighters. To trouble the champion, Lopez must reproduce the level he showed against Taylor rather than the form displayed in his later bouts.