Teofimo Lopez officially joined the exclusive club of three-division boxing world champions on Saturday night in Las Vegas, though his WBA title win over Rolando "Rolly" Romero didn't come without its share of critics and controversy.
Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) appeared to soundly outbox a sleepy Romero (17-3, 13 KOs) inside the T-Mobile Arena to capture the WBA welterweight title in a fight that never really got out of first gear. The tepid nature of the bout perhaps shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering the well-documented friendship the two fighters have shared for more than a decade, yet it was a baffling 114-114 scorecard from judge Glenn Feldman that drew just as much — if not more — condemnation as Lopez and Romero's performances Saturday.
In a fight that many observers viewed as a rout, which saw Lopez out-punch Romero 124-73 in total punches and 62-49 in power punches, Feldman improbably scored the bout a draw — meaning if judges Max DeLuca (115-113 Lopez) and Tim Cheatham (116-112 Lopez) had agreed, Romero would've controversially left Las Vegas with the WBA world title still wrapped around his waist.
Fortunately, yet another boxing judging crisis was averted this time. But Lopez's win still invited a healthy mix of aspersions and praise from his fellow fighters, ranging from former opponent George Kambosos Jr. panning the bout as a "glorified sparring session," to recent foe Shakur Stevenson giving both Lopez and Romero their due credit.
Check out more reaction to Lopez vs. Romero below.
These judges better not pull no bullsh!t tonight! Teo won this fight clearly! Skills! His body work, jabs, and right hands were good!!!!
— Claressa Gwoat Shields (@Claressashields) August 23, 2026🚨 LOPEZ IS A 3-DIVISION CHAMPION
✅ Teofimo Lopez defeats Rolly Romero by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 116-112) to dethrone him of his WBA welterweight title and become a 3-division world champion. pic.twitter.com/pF46WVfB9s
Mildly entertaining fight.
Decent performance from Teofimo.
Rolly let him off the hook after the 5th round
Some interesting unifications with Haney and Garcia looming pic.twitter.com/pq7oISbOkh
Official (garbage) #RollyTeofimo scorecards. #boxingpic.twitter.com/1Mog7cSKz2
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 23, 2026WTF were they watching. #RollyTeofimo#boxing
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 23, 2026Here are the punch stats for #RollyTeofimo.
Lopez outlanded Romero 124 to 73. pic.twitter.com/tJRqxzX1gH
Rolly is NOT HAPPY 😡#RollyTeofimo▪️ pic.twitter.com/c5Phjofao4
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 23, 2026🤔 Why was Rolly face so surprised 😮! lol. Great hooks tho. Strong dude. Good night. Beautiful night of boxing 🥊
— Claressa Gwoat Shields (@Claressashields) August 23, 2026In sum: Bad fight, bad scoring, Lopez boxed very well, Rolly landed one good shot and is a sore loser. #boxing#RollyTeofimo.
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 23, 2026Yea @TeofimoLopez 3 division champ that’s 🔥
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 23, 2026Respect to Rolly a champion who will fight anybody Respect champ!!!
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 23, 2026Glorified sparring session bar that round five…Teo did what he had to do, his better boxing skills and iq was always going to get him through unless he got iced by Rolly, Didn’t think it was close even though Rolly did crack that big ass head a few times and opened up that scar…
— George "Ferocious" Kambosos Jr (@georgekambosos) August 23, 2026And yall STILL going doubt @ShakurStevenson !!! Teo just stamped HOF credibility!!
— Hasim Rahman Jr. (@_HasimRahmanJr) August 23, 2026Congratulations champ @TeofimoLopezpic.twitter.com/oHr3pgHyql
— Rougarou (@RPrograis) August 23, 2026Nah teo really trash im
Sorry
Rolly didn’t take chances, and pretty much handed his title on a platter to Teo. He told us we’d get Fight Of The Year. That was a lie… but these judges are something else, man. 😅@DAZNBoxing#RomeroLopez
— Jamel Herring (@JamelHerring) August 23, 2026👑 THE WELTERWEIGHT LANDSCAPE
WBO - Champion is Devin Haney. No fight scheduled. Negotiations ongoing with Liam Paro.
WBC - Champion is Ryan Garcia. Defending title against Conor Benn on Sept. 12.
WBA - Champion is Teofimo Lopez. Must fight mandatory Jack Catterrall next.
IBF… pic.twitter.com/G2wMqY7rcY
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