Manny Pacquiao, Teofimo Lopez and boxing's improbable dependence on its 47-year-old kingmaker

Teofimo Lopez overcame a nasty cut and a bruising fifth round for a hard-fought majority decision win in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Lopez took the WBA welterweight world title from Rolando "Rolly" Romero's waist in the now-former champion's hometown. And while the T-Mobile Arena can typically welcome 20,000 fans, it barely looked a quarter full.

It's unclear if the pay-per-view numbers will determine Saturday's fight to be a box-office success, but Uncrowned has heard numerous times that big gates typically precede big pay-per-view. The inverse, we're told, is also true.

It was a stark contrast to one of the most recent welterweight world championship bouts in Vegas, when Manny Pacquiao rolled back the years in July 2025 to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC belt, and brought with him an incredible atmosphere into the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Filipino, 46 years old at the time, took the fight to the younger Barrios and won a 116-113 decision on Uncrowned's unofficial card. The majority draw verdict was a "robbery," most argued. Many of the 13,107 fans in the sold-out venue jeered the result.

Lopez has pageantry. He enters arenas like a ring master. But "The Takeover" hasn't taken over the hearts of mainstream fans like the way in which "Pacman" did at the peak of his powers, and it shows how critical Pacquiao may implausibly still be to the division in 2026.

Manny Pacquiao nearly made history against Mario Barrios in 2025.Anadolu via Getty Images

Even Romero proclaimed before the Lopez fight that he'd held negotiations to defend against Pacquiao. And he's not the only champion linked with the Hall of Famer.

Pacquiao has surveyed options throughout the past year, including a rematch with Floyd Mayweather. The two boxers created the best-selling fight of all-time in 2015, reaching 4.4 million households on pay-per-view in the United States alone. Pacquiao told Uncrowned earlier this year that the rematch is something boxing deserves, as "fans have waited long enough." However, they'll have to wait even longer. Originally planned for September, the show has since been pushed to 2027, at the earliest, per recent reports.

That does not appear down to Pacquiao's doing. It's clear Pacquiao wants to fight again. The only question is against whom.

Lopez could be one reasonable bet.

The 29-year-old said after the Romero win that he has three more fights on his DAZN deal and he wants them all to be meaningful.

"We want every world title. No defense, nothing. Keep winning. I don't want to take the easy route," Lopez said.

"I'm here to reclaim and get all the world titles. Whoever the next champion is, that's what it's all about."

His eyes lit up, though, when Uncrowned spoke to him pre-fight and mentioned that Pacquiao remains a lucrative option for any of the current champions, including him if he beats Romero.

"Oh my goodness." Lopez thought it over. "It all sounds great."

The new champ said Pacquiao "put a big beating on Barrios" and "deserved to win that night," adding: "I would love to see him face the other champions" like [Liam] Paro.

Teofimo Lopez (R) became a three-division champion Saturday against Rolly Romero.Steve Marcus via Getty Images

No Limit Boxing promoter, George Rose, who represents Australia's Paro, told us earlier in the summer that he'd "love to bring Pacquiao back to Australia" for an IBF world championship fight.

There is a negative to all this, of course. It wouldn't be boxing without one. Pacquiao is 47 years old now. He hasn't fought for 13 months. And the sport is continuing to recycle its old names as it struggles to generate new ones. 

We see it with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.

But while those guys are picking up losses and fighting journeymen, Pacquiao continues to perform at a reasonably high level. Many, including Lopez, thought he deserved to walk away in 2025 as the second-oldest fighter in boxing history to capture a major world title.

And Pacquiao may well be considered a live dog in a Paro fight. 

If he won and captured the IBF world title, hell, maybe Lopez would fight him then. Lopez wants title fights on DAZN, after all. "Whether that occurs, we'll see," Lopez told me.

Boxing can survive bad decisions. But it will struggle to spin a positive narrative if it keeps putting forward pay-per-view events in front of dwindling crowds.

Pacquiao filled a Vegas venue at age 46, while the sport's newest three-division champion failed to open the upper tier.

Until that changes, boxing doesn't have a new king. Just a patient, older one who continues to wait and see who's bold enough to ask him to leave.