Boxing
New WBA welterweight champ Teofimo Lopez Jr. activates phase three of 'The Takeover'
Moses vs Hrgovic: Watch only on DAZN PPV - Aug 29
Phase three of ‘The Takeover’ hit some turbulence, but can now commence.
Teofimo Lopez Jr. overcame a rough fifth round to thoroughly outbox and defeat Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero to become a three-division world champion Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV and Prime Video.
Lopez snatched the WBA welterweight world title from Romero after judges inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada scored it 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 to give him the majority decision nod.
Despite the scorecards, Lopez did more than enough to win by unanimous decision after landing a career-high 62 jabs, making good on his vow to return to effectively using the stick after nearly being shut out by Shakur Stevenson in a stinging loss this past January.
After Lopez established control behind the jab early, the roughest patch he encountered came in the fifth round when ‘Rolly’ caught him with a left hook that opened a deep gash over his right eye. Seconds later, Romero uncorked a right hand that buckled Lopez and nearly dropped him.
“There was a shot that he hit me with,” Lopez told DAZN’s Chris Mannix about that fifth round. “It woke me up, and I told him right there, ‘you gotta do better than that.’”
Lopez made sure to resume control from there, refusing to relinquish another round. He reverted to spending the majority of the fight on the front foot, pressuring Romero and peppering him with the jab. When he wasn’t landing it flush to the face, Lopez effectively stabbed with the jab to the body and stayed one step ahead of Romero, who never capitalized on that fifth round nor truly let his hands go, despite pleading and urgency from his corner to do just that.
And now, ‘The Takeover’ continues with one goal in mind: “I’m just looking forward to the next thing,” Lopez said. “This is the road to undisputed.”
Even before defeating Romero, Lopez vowed to be in attendance for WBC welterweight champ Ryan Garcia putting his title on the line against Conor Benn on September 12, live on DAZN PPV at the same T-Mobile Arena venue in Las Vegas.
Well, now Lopez can scout the fight as the WBA welterweight world champion. After all, a mega unification bout hangs in the balance toward undisputed glory.
