Tim Bradley questions Rolly Romero after WBA welterweight defeat

Tim Bradley has questioned Rolando “Rolly” Romero’s development under trainer Ismael Salas after Romero lost his WBA welterweight title to Teofimo Lopez by majority decision in Las Vegas. Lopez won the 12-round contest at T-Mobile Arena on a 116-112, 115-113, 114-114 scorecard split, becoming a three-division world champion in the process. Romero’s performance drew Bradley’s criticism because the champion spent much of the fight waiting for a single counterpunch instead of using the aggression that had defined him earlier in his career.

Lopez controlled the opening stages with his jab, movement and higher work rate. Romero circled backwards and looked for an opening, but he offered too little to prevent Lopez from building an early advantage. The challenger stayed on the front foot and made the champion react, while Romero’s counterpunching approach left him with long periods of inactivity. A round-by-round assessment had Lopez ahead after the first three rounds, with Romero unable to impose the pressure expected from a defending champion known for his power.

Romero’s best passage came in the fourth and fifth rounds. He began releasing his hands more freely, found his counter left hook and then landed a heavy shot that hurt Lopez. The punch opened a cut over Lopez’s right eyebrow and left the challenger unsteady, creating Romero’s clearest chance to change the fight. Lopez appeared close to going down, but Romero could not finish the attack or score a knockdown. The damage to Lopez’s eye continued to bleed later in the contest, yet it did not stop him from returning to his original plan.

Lopez recovered in the sixth round and resumed working behind the jab while targeting Romero’s body. From there, his activity and accuracy separated the fighters. Romero remained dangerous when he threw, but he often waited too long between attacks and allowed Lopez to dictate the range. Lopez continued pressing in the seventh and eighth rounds, then maintained control as Romero struggled to create another sustained attack. The champion’s cautious approach became more costly as the rounds passed and the opportunity created by the fifth-round blow disappeared.

The closing rounds followed the same pattern. Lopez stayed busy and kept moving forward, while Romero looked for a decisive punch that never arrived. He did not produce the strong finish required to overturn the fight, and he remained defensive in the 12th round despite needing action. Lopez also absorbed some punishment, including a late exchange in which he hurt Romero before taking a shot in return, but he completed the contest as the busier and more accurate boxer. The official result raised Lopez’s record to 23-2 with 13 knockouts and dropped Romero to 17-3 with 13 stoppages.

Bradley’s verdict focused less on the scorecards than on what he believes Romero’s tactics revealed. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Hall of Famer said, “Rolly is a defective fighter. I’ve told y’all already – he’s not skilled; he’s not that good. All he does is have power.” Bradley added, “You think you’re gonna outbox Teofimo Lopez? You think you literally, clearly won the fight? Get the hell out of here, Rolly.” His criticism was aimed at Romero’s decision to try to outbox Lopez rather than force the kind of aggressive fight in which his power could have had greater influence.

Bradley also linked the change to Romero’s previous knockout defeats. Romero had been stopped by Gervonta Davis in the sixth round before moving to 140 pounds, then suffered an eight-round stoppage loss to Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in 2024. He was previously trained by Cromwell “Bullet” Gordon, under whom Bradley remembers a more forceful fighter who came forward and attacked. Romero now works with Salas, whose coaching has been credited with improving the boxer’s technique and defensive skills. Salas also guided Romero to a unanimous-decision victory over Ryan Garcia in May 2025, but Bradley saw signs that the new approach had left Romero less willing to take risks.

“He was aggressive; he was coming forward; he was a damn dog,” Bradley said of Romero’s earlier style. “Then he got his ass knocked out by Gervonta Davis. [Then] he got his ass knocked out by Pitbull Cruz. He been fighting on skates ever since. He don’t believe in this [his chin].” That assessment also reflects the visible tension between Romero’s instructions and his actions against Lopez. The champion had the fight’s most damaging moment in the fifth round, but did not sustain the pressure needed to exploit it. Instead, he returned to waiting and retreating, allowing Lopez to regain control.

The defeat ends Romero’s reign at welterweight and gives Lopez another major title at a third weight class. It also leaves Romero facing a decision about whether to continue with the technical, defensive direction associated with Salas or bring more of his former aggression back into his style. Lopez, meanwhile, leaves Las Vegas with the WBA belt and a victory built on activity, recovery and discipline after the fifth-round scare. Romero’s next move will have to address both the loss of his title and Bradley’s central question: whether the champion’s power can matter if he no longer trusts himself enough to use it.