Tag Archives: Rolando “Rolly” Romero

Teofimo Lopez Defeats Rolando “Rolly” Romero in WBA Welterweight Bout to Become Three-Division World Champion

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Teofimo Lopez is expanding his divisional dominance…

The 29-year-old Honduran American professional boxer became a three-division world champion on Saturday night, when he captured the WBA welterweight title over his former friend and sparring partner Rolando “Rolly” Romero at the T-Mobile Arena.

Teofimo Lopez,In his welterweight debut, Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) held up well against Romero’s power en route to a majority decision. One judge scored the bout 114-114, while the other two had it 115-113 and 116-112 for Lopez.

It was an impressive bounce-back for Lopez after his lopsided decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in their WBO super lightweight title fight in January.

“I need to tell you guys, if you lose and you come back, then you never lost because you’re a winner,” Lopez said. “I’m a winner. I’m a true example of what winning is, and it ain’t about losing. It’s about never giving up.”

It was Romero’s first appearance since he claimed the WBA title in an upset decision over Ryan Garcia in May 2025. It’s difficult to say whether the 15-month layoff hurt Romero’s performance, but he struggled to keep up with Lopez’s pace and timing in the second half.

According to Compubox, Lopez landed 124 of 530 total punches; Romero (17-3, 13 KOs) landed 73 of 352, including just two in the final round.

Despite the punch totals, Romero was outraged about the scores.

“I got hit with two punches the whole fight that barely grazed me,” said Romero, a Las Vegas native. “I was never in any trouble. When I heard 114-114, I knew it was a robbery.”

Romero knocked Lopez off-balance with a counter left hook in the fourth round and had him visibly hurt with a right hand in the fifth, but Lopez recovered quickly and responded with some of his best work in the sixth and seventh rounds.

Lopez landed 62 jabs in the fight and 124 shots to the body.

“I expected something similar to this, just a little more combinations from [him],” said Lopez, who sparred with Romero multiple times in his amateur and early-professional career. “He was calculated, staying composed and listening to his corner. We had to go push the fight if need be. There was a shot he hit me with that woke me up, and I told him, ‘You got to do better than that.’ I just kept saying, ‘You ain’t going to take me out. It’s not that easy.'”

Lopez has plenty of potential options in his new division, including WBO champion Devin Haney, the winner of next month’s WBC clash between Garcia and Conor Benn, and IBF champion Liam Paro. The current WBA mandatory challenger is regular champion Jack Catterall.

Romero suffered his first loss since he was stopped in the eighth round by Isaac Cruz in March 2024.

Ryan Garcia to Fight Rolando “Rolly” Romero This May After Suspension Lifted

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Ryan Garcia is set to return to the ring…

The 26-year-old Mexican American boxer has been officially cleared to fight Rolando “Rolly” Romero.

Ryan GarciaThe New York State Athletic Commission had suspended Garcia for a failed drug test following his April 2024 decision win over Devin Haney. But just ahead of his May 2 fight with Romero in Times Square, NYSAC has officially lifted the suspension.

“The suspension has been lifted as all conditions of the Consent Order have been met,” a NYSAC spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN.

The victory was overturned to a no contest, and Garcia was suspended from competition for one year, hit with a $10,000 fine, and forced to forfeit his entire purse from the Haney fight after the banned substance Ostarine was found in samples collected by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA). Haney filed a civil lawsuit against Garcia and received an undisclosed portion of Garcia’s purse.

Garcia spent the past year carrying out the conditions of the suspension, including submitting to randomized drug tests. Now clear of his suspension,

Garcia will headline the May 2 card against Romero while Haney will compete in the co-main event against Jose Ramirez Jr. with the expectation that a rematch between Garcia and Haney will take place later this year if both win their respective fights.

 

Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz Overpowers & Dethrones WBA Super Lightweight Champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero

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Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz has claimed his first major title…

The 25-year-old Mexican professional boxer (26-2-1, 18 KOs) overpowered and dethroned WBA super lightweight champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero (15-2, 13 KOs) after getting an eighth round referee’s stoppage on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Isaac "Pitbull" CruzCruz set the tone early, with wild overhand rights that whistled by the head of Romero.

Then Cruz put on a masterclass in stalking and cutting off the ring against Romero.

Finally, Cruz completed his beatdown of Romero with at least six straight shots to the head, forcing referee Tom Taylor to stop the fight at 56 seconds of the eighth round.

With the win, Cruz took Romero’s WBA junior welterweight world title on the co-main event of a card headlined by a junior middleweight title fight between Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora.

“I didn’t want to come here and just win,” said Cruz. “I wanted to massacre Rolly and make him eat all the garbage he said to me. …I fought with the intention to leave the decision out of the judges’ hands.”

Mission accomplished.

The relentless Cruz so dominated the fight that Romero had to be checked by the ringside doctor before heading out for the fateful eighth round. Romero almost went down in the first round after taking a left hook to the forehead, was docked a point for holding in the fifth and was again saved by the ropes in the seventh after taking a big right uppercut to the chin that essentially had him out on his feet.

Cruz has now won four straight fights since losing a unanimous decision to Gervonta Davis on December 5, 2021 in Los Angeles.

“I was prepared for this. I wasn’t here to just fight. I was here to terminate him,” said Cruz. “I did my talking right here in the ring. And I did this not just for me but for everybody that is here at T-Mobile Arena. There’s going to be a Mexican champ at 140 pounds for a long time.”

The taller Romero, who fights out of Las Vegas but felt no home-ring advantage with a raucous pro-Mexico crowd, fell to 15-2 as he has now lost two of this last three fights.

He lost by a sixth-round TKO against Davis on May 28, 2022 in Brooklyn for the WBA’s lightweight title before stopping Ismael Barroso for the WBA’s junior welterweight title on May 13, 2023 in Las Vegas. He never looked comfortable with the way Cruz cut the ring off on him, while absorbing so many power shots.

Ryan Garcia Delivers Eighth-Round Knockout of Oscar Duarte

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Ryan Garcia has bounced back with a vengeance…

In his first fight with Derrick James as his trainer, the 25-year-old Mexican American boxer delivered a stunning eighth-round knockout of Oscar Duarte at Toyota Arena in Houston and live on DAZN.

Ryan GarciaGarcia’s stellar return to the ring on Saturday night comes after suffering his lone loss this past April.

Just when it looked like the pressure-fighting Duarte was gaining momentum, Garcia turned the tide in a flash with a left hook to the temple that put Duarte on jelly legs. Sensing he had Duarte hurt, Garcia smothered him with punches, including a right hook and uppercut, forcing Duarte to drop to a knee.

Duarte would rise off the canvas after the count of nine, though the referee stopped the fight right then and there, rewarding Garcia (24-1) with his 20th pro knockout.

“I fought hard to find myself again and I did a lot of soul-searching,” Garcia told DAZN’s Chris Mannix about returning to the ring since falling to Gervonta Davis by seventh-round KO nearly eight months back.

Garcia entered the fight flashing his quicker hand speed, though he seemed to respect the power of the heavy-handed Duarte. Toward the second half of the fight, Garcia noticeably resorted to the shoulder roll more, while moving around the ring enough to draw boos from the Texas crowd.

That hook to the temple ended any criticism of “King Ry” on the night as he positions himself to go after a 140-pound world title next, having these words for WBA titleholder Rolando “Rolly” Romero.

“I’m committing to becoming a world champion,” Garcia told DAZN. “If Rollys wants that, bring it on, Rollys.”